Current TV Boxset Addiction

[von Boom]

Yep, turns out that even I was not immune to the serpentine charms of Cobra Kai.

Just over halfway through Season 1 and having an absolute blast.
In the days when colossal corporations can't even shunt out a decent Star Wars flick it is simply unbelievable that this sequel to a beloved but frankly mediocre 80's film franchise works so well, 3.5 decades later.
Macchio and the younger cast members are uniformly excellent, but it's Zabka who is stealing the show - the perfect balance of no-nonsense masculinity and deep rooted vulnerability, which can be switched on and off by the subtle squint of his eyes.

I know this started out as some kind of premium YouTube series, but it is legit the most enjoyable show I've seen so far on Netflix.
Don't just take the algorithms word for it - highly recommended.

I'm about half-way myself. It's pretty damned great.

[TordelBack]

EuroBuffy,  errr sorry, I mean Warrior Nun. Verrrry slooow (a mere 8 episodes felt like 80), with Babylon 5-era-CGI monsters,  but some strong action setpieces and nice if implausible heel turns, ending on a frustrating mid-fight cliffhanger.  It blessedly drops a very irritating internal monologue VO halfway through, and things generally pick up after that.

Almost none of the real-world aspects make any sense at all, and there's a worrying historical assumption that the Reconquista of Iberia was an unalloyed good, but to be honest the big draw for us was the gorgeous, and I mean gorgeous, sun-drenched Spanish location work. Felt like being on that holiday that never was.

We'll probably be back for Season 2, and if you fancy the sound of Po-Faced-Buffy-but-Giles-is-a-Priest-and-Sunnydale-is-Actually-Sunny it's worth a look. Never read the comic mind,  so YMMV.

[Jim_Campbell]

Just finished the first series of Hannah (Amazon Prime Video).

I haven't seen the film from which (I believe) it derives but I remembered that it was generally well-reviewed so we gave this a go.

By turns slightly Bourne-Identity-ish bleak euro-thriller and teen coming-of-age drama, it really wasn't bad.I think the coming-of-age stuff might be a bit slow and/or irritating for some but it's kinda… necessary to illustrate the life that Hannah hasn't had.

Set against that, the thriller bit is pretty good with some excellent set pieces. Joel Kinnamon, who I've bashed a bit for being pretty wooden in Altered Carbon, is really good in this, and Esme Creed-Miles as the eponymous Hannah is startlingly convincing as a wide-eyed innocent who can turn slightly-super-powered killer in the blink of an eye.

Although the location work isn't as spectacular as, say, Warrior Nun (per TB's post above) it uses a range of European locations well and, as with Warrior Nun, it's nice not to see the same LA backlots over and over again.

[TordelBack]

Sounds like it's on the list.

Interesting about the European locations. For ages I kept hearing about how modern Bond was more difficult to make since no-one was excited simply by the foreign travel anymore, but we've found we watch plenty of Netflix/Amazon things at least in part because the settings are (a) fresh and (b) real. About the only thing that frustrates me in our current DS9 re-watch is the same fecking TMZ locations over and over (and over) again.

This started for me with Sense8, where the dazzling globetrotting was an explicit selling-point,  but it's extended into Scandi and Belgian(!) dramas, and now it's something I actively look for when choosing a new series.

[Radbacker]

I blasted through both seasons of Cobra Kai I one weekend and I don’t usually binge shows I like to make em last but it was just too morish.  Never been a big fan of the Karate Kid movies but had seen them enough times for this to work, very impressed with how I couldn’t decide who to go for in the tourney at the end of first season.
If you like a bit of Ridley Scott I suggest Raised by Wolves, absolutely glorious looking and interesting story to boot, 3 episodes have dropped to get you into it and I think I have the forth to watch tonight. 

CU Radbacker 

[Apestrife]

Halfway through Lindelof's Watchmen. Must say, quite good thus far. I especially enjoy how nutty Veidt is. I also enjoy Angela's Sister Night, especially how intense her eyes are. Cool character. 

[pictsy]

Buffy The Vampire Slayer Season 6

This season is a total mess.  Much like Season 4, it lacks focus.  There are heavy themes in this Season, not entirely well.

The season starts off very strong.  Buffy seems to be suffering from depression, but that just kinda fades away and becomes a somewhat confusing toxic and codependent relationship with Spike that culminates in a much criticised sexual assault scene.  It's not even the only rapey part of the season.  There are heavy handed themes of addiction.  Did I mention this is the comedy season?  The tone is all over the place.  I like the idea of the heaviest season having a strong comedy element, but they don't compliment each other here.

I really enjoy the end of the season as well.  I like that we have red herring villains and the real villain is one of the gang.  Willow's magic use in the series thus far necessitated her turning evil.  It was a very good idea and realisation of the character that was being shaped.  Nevertheless, I don't like the build up to it or the inciting incident.  I hate that Tara had to die for it to happen.  It's not just because Tara is one of my favourite characters, which is something I have felt after multiple viewing, but rather because it is so cheap.

I think it would be better if this was simply the culmination of Willow's addiction.  The inciting incident need not be such a large event but the inevitable outcome of a path of destruction.  I think the ending would work even better and have more weight to it and little would had to change.

So it is a mess.  I still really enjoy it.  Tara certainly comes more into her own.  There are fun moments.  The writers discover that they can write Dawn well without her being annoying (she only has one episode of classic irritation).  I like Buffy at the Double Meat Burger. 

The trio are actually disturbing watching it now.  If it were made a number of years later and they'd be swearing blind that Warren murdering his ex was about ethics in games journalism.  In hindsight, they aren't the joke villains that they initially were.

I'm now getting close to finishing the series.  Starting think about it as a whole, which seasons I prefer over others and most important of all... what to watch next.  I am considering rewatching Columbo for the first time.

[Professor Bear]

Cobra Kai - wanted to hold off judgment until I'd watched all of it, and now I can say I thoroughly enjoyed it, even with its glaring story flaws and deficiencies in the acting and fight training departments.
It both reboots and sequel-itises the original movies, even though we had the perfectly flawless The Next Karate Kid to do that for us already, but instead of desperately trying to pretend that it isn't stripmining fan theories while simultaneously raiding the wastebins of the original writers' rooms like Star Wars has been doing since The Force Awakens, Cobra Kai actually embraces the long-running fan theory that Johnny Lawrence was the hero of the original Karate Kid movie, and instead of reworking his character as a misunderstood soul, they roll with the portrayal they already had to work with and keep him as a lunk-headed asshole who needed to learn compassion and humility.  I've seen some suggest he's been "rehabilitated" or something just because Ralph Macchio's Danny is played like a sleazeball, but Johnny is frozen in time and remains an emotionally-immature, sexist, racist, politically-incorrect jerk, and that's why you're never really sure if he'll do the right thing when the time comes, and why even though the actor isn't the most gifted of thespians, his indecision still creates a lot of dramatic tension.
A bit too much of the drama comes from misunderstandings for my liking, and it eventually feels like Danny and Johnny should be past their animosity several times over by the time it all finishes up in this endless fight in a school, but overall, a really enjoyable little show while it lasted.  Here's hoping the promised third season actually appears before we all die in whatever apocalypse happens between now and the end of the year.

[repoman]

I loved it.  I really like KK1, but I'm a really big fan of KK3.  More so because my mate and I both liked it and over the years it became 'our' film to quote and rewatch.

Cobra Kai stayed faithful to the source material but had it's own humour and attitude.  That's all you can ask really.  A bit like Ash vs. Evil Dead.

Unfortunately that friend died this year, so Cobra Kai s3 is going to be bittersweet but I'll watch it the way we watched the other two seasons:  in one sitting with a ridiculous amount of sweets and crisps.

[Mardroid]

I caught up on the last two series of Game of Thrones recently.

I largely enjoyed them both.  Had some issues with certain things that occurred in the last series but I think part of those were due to cramming everything into six episodes. I think what they did with Daenerys in the latter half of the series was rather unbelievable. At least in that short period of time, which again may come to time factor. That being said the individual episodes seemed particularly long, with certain scenes stretched out with nothing much happening probably to build tension. I didn’t get particularly bored but maybe they could have built up more story in those bits...

In the end, I didn’t find the last series as bad as many fans seem to, but I think it could have been so much more. I look forward to George R R Martin’s final novels, to read his version of events. Assuming they get finished, which isn’t at all certain. (I think one is almost done, at least.)

Just started Orphan Black on Netflix. Only a couple episodes in, but what a good series it is! I like the main actress, but her accent sounded more Aussie or Kiwi than English. Which is kind of how Americans and Canadians sound when they attempt a British accent. Maybe she was going for mid-Atlantic accent? I suppose as an English woman who has spent most of her life in North America* she’d have picked up a twang if her accent didn’t shift altogether. Maybe that’s what she was going for. And as she plays several characters, that’s not the only accent she puts on!

Anyway, slightly dodgy accents aside, it’s really good so far.


*Im not clear if it’s USA or Canada. The programme is Canadian, apparently, but not sure of the setting.

[pictsy]

I must be one of the few people who didn't get into Game of Thrones.  I could never get past the Red Wedding due to being really bored.  I like the setting and love fantasy in general and I should have adored this show, but it just didn't grab me.

I also read the books and they grabbed me even less.  I rarely regret reading a book, but I did with most of them. 

Now I'm reconciled with the fact I am not a fan I don't feel the need to try and watch the series again.

[wedgeski]

Currently simul-watching Lovecraft Country (really, really great after a slightly dodgy start) and The Boys S2 (loving every second, although the gore is at the limit of what I can stomach).

[Colin YNWA]

Started on The Expanse this week. I'm 4 episodes in and well I'm sold. This is great stuff and really looking forward to delving further into this.

[von Boom]

I must be one of the few people who didn't get into Game of Thrones.  I could never get past the Red Wedding due to being really bored.  I like the setting and love fantasy in general and I should have adored this show, but it just didn't grab me.

I also read the books and they grabbed me even less.  I rarely regret reading a book, but I did with most of them. 

Now I'm reconciled with the fact I am not a fan I don't feel the need to try and watch the series again.

You aren't alone. I managed to get through the first four episodes but gave up after that. As for the books, the first one was quite good but they dropped off after that. I won't be bothering with the rest.

[Jim_Campbell]

As for the books, the first one was quite good but they dropped off after that. I won't be bothering with the rest.

Definitely diminishing returns there — I found the last two or three a real chore to slog through, to the extent that I have literally no interest in reading the concluding book(s) when/if they eventually materialise.