Current TV Boxset Addiction

[Funt Solo]

Regarding The Expanse - and from the perspective of reading the books only - I'd say the high water mark of the narrative is the [SPOILERS AHOY] bombardment of Earth (in book 2 of 9). It's not that nothing happens after that point, but that there's a bit of enemy-shuffling, a bit of Eastenders, then a jump forward in time - and the momentum fizzles.

Still kept me engaged enough to read the entire book series, but there are highs and lows. Unlike the work of, say, Iain M. Banks, I don't know if I'll ever re-read these.

[pictsy]

Regarding The Expanse - and from the perspective of reading the books only - I'd say the high water mark of the narrative is the [SPOILERS AHOY] bombardment of Earth (in book 2 of 9). It's not that nothing happens after that point, but that there's a bit of enemy-shuffling, a bit of Eastenders, then a jump forward in time - and the momentum fizzles.

Still kept me engaged enough to read the entire book series, but there are highs and lows. Unlike the work of, say, Iain M. Banks, I don't know if I'll ever re-read these.

That seems to track.  I had to look up a book synopsis to understand what point in the series that is.  The TV show, for me, peaked with the first season.  The Second season where the bombardment happens is pretty good as well, but it's diminishing returns from there on out.  Apparently Season 4 adapts the forth book of the series.  I'm guessing it's the Eastenders portion.

I really should finish The Culture series.  I thoroughly enjoyed the first two books.  However, I was thinking after finishing Lord of the Rings I'd start reading a shit-ton of Michael Moorcock.  Now I don't know what to think.

[Colin YNWA]

Just started on DD - its move to Disney+ spurred me on after thinking I'd missed it on Netflix and being pretty disappointed. SOoooo anyway 4 episodes in and its pretty good. I'd getting tired of grimdark BUT if you are to have grimdark you can have grimdark on DD. I mean no one does angsty self loathing like DD and the series is working nicely for me. Taking its time. Letting things build well.

Yeah optimistic and with the things you hear about how good Season 3 is so far its looking like it might be a pleasure getting there.

[Colin YNWA]

And the upside of finally testing positive* is I've felt pretty crap today and haven't been up to much of anything and so have indulged myself and watched the final four episodes of Season one of Daredevil today. And it was pretty good. I mean the grimdark leaves it tonally bland - but as said there is no better platform for that and I seem to do fine with it in the comics (although the Waid run which does play with this is my second fav DD run) and some of the dialogue is so goddamn earnst as to be boarding on rancid cliche at times.

This is tempered by some good performances (I worry that I'm the only person who thinks they've done a good job with Foggy), dramatic setting and pacing that really works, its steady, it builds rather than darts and I like the way they've scattered 'origin' of various characters throughout. The action is solid if a little hyper-realised, again given the material you have to forgive that.

Overall the first 12 episodes really work and in my weaken state it was getting better and better as it built to the conclusion. I was genuinely shocked by a couple of key moments and this was all good stuff ... and then... well then...

Damn that final episode rather blindsided the whole thing. Firstly the pacing, they way they rattled to the end was in utter contrast to the previous episodes and really jarred. The fall of the Kingpin Wilson Fisk just burst out so quickly it really didn't work for me at all. The music on the scene with all the arrests (think it harks back to The Untouchables - am I remembering that right?) was so poorly used. Its just rolled from one cliche to the next and stank the place up.

Then that film climatic conflicit - I mean I guess they had to have it but it was just so ... overblown. I must admit I really don't like the costume / body armour thing (though I did like all the cute Easter Eggs the popped into Melvin Potters workshop) and maybe that soured things for me. It really felt like a typical superhero movie at that point,... which it is of course, but had seemed to be trying to avoid lots of that.

I wonder did they not know they were going to get a second season and so had to bolt to the line? I might have to read up.

Anyway overall this was great fun and I'm in for the next two seasons. Just hope they don't go quite so 'crank it up to 11' on the season finales to come!




*Household all doing fine is the most important thing and since the first postive in the house 5 days ago that counts as a blessing!

[RookieNerd]

SG1 never saw all the episodes on the small screen. Finally picked up the entire 10 seasons for about £18 this year. Cheap low budget sets/costumes, but what offsets all the cheap visuals is the competent acting and the interesting stories. B5 and BSG with Breaking Bad are my top three fave Boxsets though.

[Trooper McFad]

And the upside of finally testing positive* is I've felt pretty crap today and haven't been up to much of anything and so have indulged myself and watched the final four episodes of Season one of Daredevil today. And it was pretty good. I mean the grimdark leaves it tonally bland - but as said there is no better platform for that and I seem to do fine with it in the comics (although the Waid run which does play with this is my second fav DD run) and some of the dialogue is so goddamn earnst as to be boarding on rancid cliche at times.

This is tempered by some good performances (I worry that I'm the only person who thinks they've done a good job with Foggy), dramatic setting and pacing that really works, its steady, it builds rather than darts and I like the way they've scattered 'origin' of various characters throughout. The action is solid if a little hyper-realised, again given the material you have to forgive that.

Overall the first 12 episodes really work and in my weaken state it was getting better and better as it built to the conclusion. I was genuinely shocked by a couple of key moments and this was all good stuff ... and then... well then...

Damn that final episode rather blindsided the whole thing. Firstly the pacing, they way they rattled to the end was in utter contrast to the previous episodes and really jarred. The fall of the Kingpin Wilson Fisk just burst out so quickly it really didn't work for me at all. The music on the scene with all the arrests (think it harks back to The Untouchables - am I remembering that right?) was so poorly used. Its just rolled from one cliche to the next and stank the place up.

Then that film climatic conflicit - I mean I guess they had to have it but it was just so ... overblown. I must admit I really don't like the costume / body armour thing (though I did like all the cute Easter Eggs the popped into Melvin Potters workshop) and maybe that soured things for me. It really felt like a typical superhero movie at that point,... which it is of course, but had seemed to be trying to avoid lots of that.

I wonder did they not know they were going to get a second season and so had to bolt to the line? I might have to read up.

Anyway overall this was great fun and I'm in for the next two seasons. Just hope they don't go quite so 'crank it up to 11' on the season finales to come!




*Household all doing fine is the most important thing and since the first postive in the house 5 days ago that counts as a blessing!

For me Daredevil was the best of the “Netflix” Marvel followed by Punisher/Luke Cage and then the rest on a level pegging. I like the crossovers when they appear and your right about Foggy. But the best character I loved was Kingpin and glad they used the same actor in Disney’s Hawkeye. Glad to see that they are all under one banner (but surprised as I felt the Netflix ones were a step up in violence)

Glad the Family are holding up well

[Proudhuff]

 May streaming calendar below!

May 1
NETFLIX
42
3 Ninjas: Kick Back
40-Love
A River Runs Through It
Are You the One?: Season 6
Blippi Wonders: Season 1
Corpse Bride
Crazy, Stupid, Love.
Den of Thieves
Dirty Harry
Empire State
Forrest Gump
Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle
Hello, My Name Is Doris
Jackass: The Movie
Jackass 2.5
Jackass 3.5
John Q
Menace II Society
Once Upon a Time in America
Rambo
Rambo: Last Blood
Road to Perdition
Seven Years in Tibet
Soul Surfer
Summerland
The Gentlemen
The Lake House
U.S. Marshals (1998)
War of the Worlds
When Harry Met Sally
You've Got Mail




PRIME VIDEO
Independence Day (1996)
Tombstone (1993)
Open Range (2003)
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story (2004)
The Guardian (2006)
Office Space (1999)
Enemy Of The State (1998)
Taken (2008)
Dude, Where's My Car? (2000)
Hitman (2007)
Red Tails (2012)
Sideways (2021)
Tooth Fairy 2 (2012)
Courage Under Fire (1996)
Pearl Harbor (2001)
Fat Albert (2004)
Lucky Number Slevin (2006)
The Angriest Man In Brooklyn (2014)
Tangerine (2015)
Europa Report (2013)
Blackfish (2013)
Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (1989)
Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey (1991)
Fargo (1996)
Valley Girl (1983)
The Rage: Carrie 2 (1999)
Platoon (1986)
The Woods (2006)
Bad Influence (1990)
The Namesake (2007)
Crank (2006)
Mamma Mia! (2008)
Shrek (2001)
Shrek 2 (2004)
Battleship (2012)
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins (2008)
Don't Be A Menace To South Central While Drinking Your Juice In The Hood (1996)
Field Of Dreams (1989)
Road To Perdition (2002)
Eye For An Eye (1996)
Zero Dark Thirty (2013)
A League Of Their Own (1992)
The Ugly Truth (2009)
Blue Clues S1 (1999)

[The Legendary Shark]

Wow, that's a marathon!

I've just binged Love, Death and Robots and really enjoyed it overall. The worst part was that my mind kept wandering to imagine a 2000AD series with a similar format. Say thirteen ~20 minute episodes, five of them Dredd (broken up to maybe episodes 1, 2, 7, 12 and 13, telling either one big story or five self-contained ones), then maybe three episodes of Rogue Trooper or Strontium Dog, the last five episodes could be a two part M.A.C.H. 1 or Visible Man and a couple of Future Shocks. Maybe all with a short post-credits Word from Tharg sequence. And of course the seasons would be called Progs and the episodes would be called Thrills. Anyhoo, Love, Death and Robots is cool and I liked it a lot.

Moon Knight. I enjoyed the Hell of of this.

House of Cards (US). Can't really be compared to the UK original, except in superficial ways, but this is nevertheless a good series in it's own right. I know it stars the A$$h0le Formerly Known as Kevin Spacey (who, a$$h0le or not, puts in a good turn) but it also stars Robin Wright, who is awesome, and many other top-notch people. An enjoyable political thriller, political correctness notwithstanding.

[The Legendary Shark]

Halfway through season 2 of Raised by Wolves and I'm beginning to wonder if it's all part of the Alien universe...

[Proudhuff]

Halfway through season 2 of Raised by Wolves and I'm beginning to wonder if it's all part of the Alien universe...

Heard so much dissing of this I avoided it, worth a watch?

[Jim_Campbell]

Heard so much dissing of this I avoided it, worth a watch?

The first series really, really wasn't. It started out oddly fascinating and pleasingly different, visually, from most mainstream US SF, but the story just meanders around, making progressively less and less sense, until you get to the final episode and just ask yourself "Why the fuck did I sit through all that?"

[The Legendary Shark]

Heard so much dissing of this I avoided it, worth a watch?

Well, I'm enjoying it somewhat but it's not something I'd recommend strongly.

[Proudhuff]

Damned by faint ( and not so faint) praise, will continue to avoid.

[pictsy]

I've been watching One Piece.

I watched the first three arcs many years ago, but didn't really remember whether I liked any of it or not.  I thought I'd give it another go.  There is a lot to get through, however and I'm not even at the point where I dropped out.  I'm not sure I'll make it to the end because I am getting suspicious that it's horribly over-rated.  I'm thinking I may end up watching more than I did last time, but eventually I'll just get tired of it.

[Tiplodocus]

Working our way through SEINFELD on Netflix still. Has there been a better comic creation than George Costanza? Kramer is a bit of a Mary Sue but brilliantly played.