well put. Extremely well put.
3 Likes
American Flyers. Iām in the mood for light entertainment and it delivers. Thereās some depth, the dialog isnāt totally stupid, I buy the brothers as brothers, and the race shots are exciting. Itās been a while since Iāve seen that many white socks with two stripes. The bikes look like bikes should look (perfectly-horizontal frame top tubes, my bias). You could date it by the sound track instrumentation alone.
I got to this by watching Breaking Away last month. (āCutters!ā) Man weāve come a long way.
1 Like
Have to say I didnāt like this as much as I was supposed to
not that it sucked or anything, but it wasnāt as clever or amusing as it thought it was
and it was so '80s, but without going to the trouble of doing a proper period piece
8 Likes
I watched it with my daughter. Had a very Dr Who vibe to it in my book. She really loved it. The actors seemed to be enjoying themselves so overall seemed fun. It seemed written more for people whoād read the book, which she filled me in on, rather than an actual stand alone tv version.
4 Likes
I loved it but I also totally accept all your stated criticisms. I did read the book beforehand if that makes a difference. And louche David Tennant as a change from hyper David Tennant or morose David Tennant was so much fun.
5 Likes
They shorted the production and post. I too think it could only work set in 89-93. Too bad. Everyone was definitely having fun.
2 Likes
Australian horror story about resurrected dead people climbing out of their own graves
Hollywood amnesia, nobody remembers anything until itās convenient for the plot
Doesnāt make a lot of sense, obviously, not much atmosphere or style either, probably not worth it 
4 Likes
As I recall, it had some good character moments but the premise is hard to run with; incomprehensible random phlebotenum.
3 Likes
The Tripods-- Iāve read the comic strip, but nothing else.
Really? I kind of enjoyed it. Not particularly deep or anything, but I found it fun.
2 Likes
Started Black Earth Rising, starring Michaela Cole and John Goodman, about a young woman who as a baby survived the Rwandan genocide, and whose adoptive mother is a prosecutor who works on international law, and often works for the ICC. A case of a hero who helped stop the genocide but is now in the DRC fighting in guerilla wars there and smuggling out minerals/diamonds/etc to pay for his militia comes up and her mother takes the case. So far, itās excellent. Both Cole and Goodman are amazing. So far, itās asking plenty of hard questions:
7 Likes
I thought it was fine from the startā¦ it was a fun zombie premise, I thought, something a little different from the usual braindead zombie fare.
[ETA] I will say I like the Fitzgerald storyline a bit more than the cop love triangle aspectā¦ and then it did get kind of weird with the other people who get killed in the course of the show and then are there to take down the 6 original āzombiesā, which I thought was an intriguing twist. Plus, why canāt they leave Yoorana? Perhaps theyāve covered that in season 3 (as weāve only seen through the end of season 2 - apparently, the 3rd season literally just started!). Also, Yoorana is fun to day!
2 Likes
Oh, sure. I can agree with that! But I guess itās something that didnāt bother me enough to mess up my enjoyment of it for light entertainment. I liked Dark Matter, too! 
4 Likes
I didnāt think Dark Matter was amazing, or even good, some of the time, but they did a good entry of new-franchise scifi. Interesting writing and character opportunities.
3 Likes
Iām watching the last season of Orange is the New Black. The acting is as strong as always, but the writing is super disappointing. It feels very after school special, the Prison Edition. They used to do a better job of weaving in topical material. These season it is really hitting things over the head. Iām almost finished and I will wrap it up just for the feeling of completeness, but I donāt have high hopes for a strong finish,
7 Likes
Yep, I quit on that show after the first season.
Itās another show where the idea had potential but the writing started off subpar and only got worse with time.
Jenji Kohanās stuff usually goes to shit after 4th or 5th season; donāt even get me started on what she did with Weeds.
I havenāt been really invested since Poussey was killed; so I just decided to ānopeā out of watching the final season, and to just read the character synopses to find out what happened.
Based upon what I read, Iām glad I didnāt bother.
I am done with lazy writing and show-runners shitting on their audiences.
5 Likes
Iām actually disappointed I canāt keep hate-watching The OA
The story was fucking stupid but the acting and cinematography and stuff was pretty good
6 Likes
Too many dropped plot-lines, too little payoff for all the random weirdness, and again, writing that seems just lazy.
Also, Iām starting to lose my patience with writers who create despicable characters who do horrible unforgivable things, but then they never get any proper comeuppance.
If I want to watch bad people getting away with shit, Iāll just watch the nightly news.
Also, I finished s3 of GLOW; it wasnāt bad.
5 Likes
This:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivMFR9xGlpY
Fun fact: Joan Blondellās ex-husband, Dick Powell, later married June Allyson. This musta been a fun flick to film!
Great exchange:
Carolyn Jones: Smart girls take what they can get!
Joan Collins: Smart girls get what they can take!
4 Likes
Started Derry Girls. Itās funny, captures living in a small town brilliantly where getting banned from the chip shop is a horrible punishment almost worse than death, but does another thing even better.
Northern Ireland in the nineties: soldiers are everywhere. Not in a dun-dun-dun way where itās a foreshadowing that shit is going to (or has just gotten) bad, but as a background presence, because things have been bad for a long time now. Bombs arenāt terrifying, theyāre annoying. It really shows how in a war zone, people just get on with life. (Not that itās paradise or that itās a good normal, but life needs to go on).
7 Likes