Whatcha watchin'/streamin'...

[|iR|Focalor]

...while quarantined. (I didn't include that last part in the title in order to make the thread still relevant IF this coronavirus shit ever ends.)

Think I mentioned it somewhere else, but I didn't go into detail about the show.

Comedy Bang Bang,
...currently on Netflix, but leaving on June 2nd according to the Netflix post as the episodes begin.

It's a scripted and probably a little improv-ad-libbed talk show parody kind of show, featured oddball musician/comedian Reggie Watts as the one-man band leader up until midway through season 4 when he left to join the James Corden show or whatever his name is (I don't watch it). For the remainder of season 4, some dude named Kid Cudi took Reggie's place. And then for all of season 5 (the last season), Weird Al Yankovic joins as the bandleader/co-host. The main host is Scott Aukerman. I'd never heard of him before this, but he's pretty funny.

I'd seen it advertised a few places for many years, but always figured that since it was on IFC along with that UNFUNNY-AS-FUCK Portlandia show that it would be equally as lame. But I literally ran the fuck out of shit to watch on Netflix. They had NOTHING appealing. And on a whim, I added it to my list and it sat there for many months until I had seen everything else on my list, so I reluctantly began watching it.

It's kinda slow to get acclimated to it at first. It takes a few episodes. But by midway into season 1, I was hooked. It's not "wall to wall" funny. It's got some odd dork humor to it. But at least once or twice every episode it'll have you falling off the sofa laughing.

Unfortunately, it'll be leaving Netflix soon. So watch it while you can if you're gonna. Dunno if IFC has a free streaming thing you can use if you already get the channel, but it might be there also. Definitely worth watching. Definitely something different.

My favorite recurring character from the show is the little orphan boy Fourvel (a parody of Fievel from the old American Tail cartoon) who always threatens everyone with knives. The writing on the show is actually GOOD QUALITY stuff. It really surprised me. It's got some WIT to it. It's not just a bunch of dick and fart jokes. It's WAY better than most of the shit that's been on Comedy Central in the last 10 years.

[haunted]

We watched the latest season of outlander on Starz when it came out, and we're most of the way through the new season of the last kingdom on Netflix. Outlander is based off an excellent book series, similar to game of thrones, just not in story line. It's a quality series.

We also watched how the arrow concluded. The superhero shows can get a bit cheesey but that one is one of the better ones. Daredevil comes to mind also, that one has a decent story line. Probably because they're more realistic than the other corny ones (the arrow is Archer/hand to hand combat dude, Daredevil is a bind guy who trained in combat and 'heightened' his other senses). Both are watchable.

[|iR|Focalor]

Yeah, my ma is into Outlander, which is why I've refused to try it.

She also thought Twilight was great.  And unfortunately, I did subject myself to the 1st Twilight movie when I watched it with my old lady years ago. I refused to see any of the sequels, not for all the blowjobs from all the 17 year old prostitutes in all of Amsterdam. Nuh-uh.

My ma mentions Outlander all the time. From what little I know of it, it sounds like a shitty time traveling romance kinda thing and a ripoff of Somewhere in Time.

A lot of folks seem to like Altered Carbon on Netflix. I sorta liked the 1st season after I watched it once. But when they came out with season 2 a while back, I rewatched season 1 again to stay fresh with everything, and the 2nd time around... it was kinda shitty. And season 2 was worse.

What I would recommend though is any of the Bill Burr standup comedy specials on Netflix. He's pretty funny, and quite non-PC, which is nice. He also has an animated series on there too called F is for Family, which isn't too bad.

[quadz]

"The Boys" (free with Prime)

www.amazon.com/Name-Game/dp/B07QQQ52B3

"The Boys" has a fun premise, and blends action/satire/humor. There's only one season so far (8 episodes.)

The writing quality is above average: The characters start out as somewhat one-dimensional archetypes; but they do a good job fleshing out their backstories and perspectives over successive episodes, such that there are very few pure "good guys" or "bad guys" in the mix.

"The Expanse" (free with Prime)

www.amazon.com/Dulcinea/dp/B018BZ3SCM

Slightly more cerebral sci-fi. There's action and political intrigue, but they also try to get the physics right. If a battle is taking place out near Jupiter, the updates received by central command on Earth are delayed 30+ minutes (speed of light.) If a rocketship wants to travel fast to some destination, they've got to keep the G-forces low enough not to kill their passengers, and they have to flip and burn half way to the destination to begin deceleration. One of my favorite shows in quite some time. (Currently 4 seasons.)

"The Witcher"

www.netflix.com/title/80189685

I went into this with low expectations, figuring Netflix would mess it up. Wasn't bad, enjoyed it. (And actor Henry Cavill nailed the role.)

"Daredevil"

www.netflix.com/title/80018294

Not too bad. Writing seemed above average, though I kinda lost interest before the end of the first season. (Might pick it up again sometime.)

"Devs"

www.amazon.com/Episode-1/dp/B085LQK9N7

Intriguing premise. By the writer/director of Ex Machina. Overall enjoyed it despite some flaws.

[|iR|Focalor]

"The Witcher"

www.netflix.com/title/80189685

I went into this with low expectations, figuring Netflix would mess it up. Wasn't bad, enjoyed it. (And actor Henry Cavill nailed the role.)

Watched that one a week or two after it came out.

I've never played the games. But I figured if it's based on a video game, it'll never be Oscar nominated, so yeah, low expectations. Yeah, not horrible, but I'm also not gonna be upset if there's never a Season 2 either.

[haunted]

The expanse is actually one of my favorites. I just had already finished it before "quarantine steaming". I ended up getting hooked. I actually just got done with a conversation with my mom trying to convince her to watch it and showing her where it was at on prime, all she wants to do is watch Outlander and jack ryan reruns though  After I finished expanse I tried to watch altered carbon but couldn't get into it. Watched 6 episodes maybe. I watched the boys too when it came out, but by myself. A lot of what I watch is limited to assuming kids will be in the room listening.

The expanse, then Outlander, then probably the last kingdom out of newer ones are my favorites. I like scifi and after the expense I watched a couple other mini series like night flyer on Netflix but nothing to really recommend.

You'll like Outlander once ya give it a couple episodes foc it's well written, especially the first couple seasons.

[haunted]

I literally just read quadz's review of the expanse to my wife. I watched it on my own while away at work months ago,  and season 4 when it came out. I keep telling everyone it's my favorite ive seen in awhile but it seems no one follows my recommendation to watch it 

We're about to finish episode 8 of season 4(new season) of the last kingdom. It's decent mostly due to the political game of thrones-ish aspect. It's based in the post-Germanic tribes era in the UK. Varying sects of anglo-saxons and pagans("the danes").

Side note: I was disappointed in how Outlander's new season concluded.

[quadz]

I just had already finished it before "quarantine steaming".

Indeed – I'd watched a few of these, myself, before 'quarantine' but as my wife – aka spousal unit – is home for the duration I've revisited them with her seeing them for the first time.

It's been fun. (And no pressure. It took a few days before she decided to try Episode 2 of "The Boys" as it's not her genre. Apparently she had sought a second opinion from friends. Once it got a bit more psychologically complex, she wanted to keep watching.)


Edit: I should add – she liked The Expanse a lot. (It was my second viewing so I let her set the pace. We binged all 4 seasons in about a week-and-a-half.)

[|iR|Focalor]

In my opinion, the best lineup Ozzy Osbourne ever had was the No More Tears/Live & Loud era with Zakk Wylde on guitar, Mike Inez on bass, and Randy Castillo on drums. Sadly, Randy died back in 2002 from cancer. One of my favorite drummers of all time.

Tubi has a documentary about his life, streaming for free. Finally got around to watching it today. Really sad the way his story ended, but so glad someone finally made a documentary to honor and remember this legendary artist.

The Life, Blood and Rhythm of Randy Castillo

https://tubitv.com/movies/474222/the_life_blood_and_rhythm_of_randy_castillo

[quadz]

In my opinion, the best lineup Ozzy Osbourne ever had was the No More Tears/Live & Loud era with Zakk Wylde on guitar, Mike Inez on bass, and Randy Castillo on drums.

As an aside, what a shame we never got to hear or see any live performances by the Lee Kerslake / Bob Daisley / Randy Rhoads lineup.

Based on Daisley’s book, Sharon came off like a cross between Machiavelli and Yoko Ono in terms of breaking up that band.

[quadz]

Tales from the Loop

https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B084NSNCK6

Three episdoes in, it's growing on me.

It's "slow paced" but not in a way that has me checking my watch. (Defnintely an emphasis on visual style and sustaining an unsettling mood.)

There's a bit of a Black Mirror / Twilight Zone vibe.

One unexpected detail: Even though it appears each episode is mostly self-contained and written to be viewable standalone, consequences to the world and its characters do seem to carry over from one episode to the next.

I'm liking it so far.

Edit: Hmm, we just watched episodes 4 and 5, and I'm reconsidering.

[|iR|Focalor]

A month or so ago, I downloaded the latest seasons of South Park and Better Call Saul. I went back and watched every episode of South Park from season 1 to season 23. This last season was kind of disappointing. There's been a bit of a downward trend in the funniness of South Park for the last several seasons. I think they have about 3 more seasons left on a contract with Comedy Central, after which they'll likely retire the show finally. I hope they get some better writers in there before they end it. I hate to see a show this good go out the way it's going now.

I've just started on season 5 of Better Call Saul. This is probably the best show on TV. The writing is SO FUCKING GOOD. If you haven't gotten into it, DO IT. Although, it would help to first watch Breaking Bad before starting, just so you'll have a better idea about the characters, as Better Call Saul is essentially the prequel to Breaking Bad. But Breaking Bad was also another excellent show. I'd rate them both the #1 and #2 best TV miniseries of all time, perhaps in no particular order, but I do think the writing and direction on Better Call Saul is a little more creative and interesting. Just my opinion.

[|iR|Focalor]

Saw this several weeks ago, and the big KABOOM in Beruit today reminded me of it.

Currently still on Netflix. The Spy, starring Sasha Baron Cohen. It's the true story of Eli Cohen, Isreali spy in Syria around the time of the Six Days War. It's a 6 part series, each part is about an hour. He's done some of the craziest comedy with a straight face and without breaking character, so it's no surprise that he's really a good all around actor even in serious roles. It was really good though. IMDB has it at 7.9/10. I'd probably rate it closer to 8.5 or 9, but that's just me.

[|iR|Focalor]

I saw the first Ocean's Eleven remake while it was in theaters back in 2001 or 2002, whenever the hell it was. Never seen the other two. I saw that Netflix had Ocean's 12 and Oceans 13, but not the first one. So I downloaded the first one and watched it yesterday along with Ocean's 12. If you haven't seen any of these and might want to, stop reading here, spoilers ahead.









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Ocean's Eleven - Not an absolutely terrible movie, but not very good either. I'm not buying that it's possible for 8 or 9 swat cops to carry 160 million in folding cash out in one duffel bag per person right in front of the guy who's not gonna say, "What the fuck is in all those bags that I'm watching you carry right past me?"

Watched Ocean's 12 as well. WEAK. BAD. Really bad. How did they make a third one after this pile of shit? Where it really took a hard left turn and then an immediate spiraling nosedive into the ground was where they had the bright idea to pass Tess (played by Julia Roberts) off as the real actress Julia Roberts.  FUCKING RETARDED. One of the biggest pieces of shit I've seen in a long time.

Haven't seen Ocean's 13 yet. Gonna watch it tonight. And if this trend continues, you will see on the 10 o'clock news that I will have strangled myself to death with my own underwear.

[|iR|Focalor]

Okay, wow, so if this is also happening in 2020, suddenly the whole coronavirus thing doesn't seem so bad in comparison...



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gPGeAYo3yU