What are you watching and enjoying?

[Dread]

22 minutes ago, You Know Who said:

I've actually been rushing to catch as many DS9 episodes as possible lately before it leaves US Netflix on July 1st.

That's where I sytarted my rewatch years ago, but I don't think it's on Canada's Netflix anymore. It's on Crave up here along with all the ST stuff, HBO and Showtime stuff.

[Donomark]

I haven't watched episode 3 as of this writing yet, but I am loving Ms. Marvel. Easily my favorite Disney+ Marvel show since Flacon and the Winter Solider. And this first end credits theme by rapper Eva B slaps.

 

[Dread]

Ok, the latest Strange New Worlds was my least favourite, but I always hate these Robin Hood Men In Tights Star Trek episodes.

[slothian]

On 6/1/2022 at 5:22 PM, Dread said:

Three episodes in to the new Kids In the Hall and it's some of their best work. Having all of their shit in my head since childhood and coming off binging five seasons of Key & Peele, I was virtually guaranteed to find the new KITH underwhelming. But no. It's fucking great. Episode 3 has "best single episode of a comedy show of all time" appeal.

Late to this, but when I was at Pandy's house the other weekend, we put Episode 3 on and I'd be hard-pressed to disagree. The lack of laugh-track and improved cinematography really stands it apart from the original seasons.

[S-T]

Deep into Season 3 of The Flash and the relationship between Iris and Barry is seriously creepy and cringeworthy. Joe West repeatedly refers to Barry as his "son," meaning that Joe's son is marrying Joe's daughter.

Um, ew?

Yuck.

This was avoided in the comics as Joe didn't raise Barry. You could have had them be next door neighbors and very close, without the super creepy vibe of a man's two children marrying each other.

Yes, I know they're not biologically related. But they were still raised in the same household, and Joe considers both to be his children.

[Davedevil]

Ms. Marvel - The finale was really good.

Spoiler

I enjoyed the Home Alone feel of it even though the imagery itself that they were dealing with was really disturbing, especially recently (which explains the disclaimer up front).

More than anything, they nailed how Kamala would act in that situation. She would use violence to protect people, not to hurt anyone. The stretching effects strained credibility, but didn't break it, which I'm sure is why they were nervous about the whole thing.

My biggest issue is the villains. They are not convincing at all, especially Kamran. I couldn't help but be reminded of Hayden Christensen in Revenge of the Sith, he does a decent job looking desperate and angry, but that's about it.

Side note but, man did it take me out just to hear the name Clandestines spoken out loud. I had an issue of ClanDestine guest starring Spider-Man as a kid, so that was something I had a bit of history with, but dismissed as being far too obscure for the MCU.

I wish it could've been 8-10 episodes, or hell, a regular 20-24 episode season. I doubt they could've pulled in all of the cast members, or had as much CGI (thinking mainly of the animated thoughts) that way, but teen heroes especially need the serialized format.

Oh, and about that change:

Spoiler

I frankly missed that whole mutant implication (and 90s X-Men theme drop) because I thought they were just being coy about the Inhumans. 

I'm okay with the change, frankly I don't care what her affiliation is, because it hasn't affected her story. Her supporting cast is her family, friends, and her fellow teen heroes. 

I didn't even watch the other shows and I'm just sick at all the speculation of when we'll get the Mutants or the FF. To be fair, Marvel started it with the casting of Evan Peters back in WandaVision, and I'm sure they enjoy the attention they get from the fan theories. I'm just glad this show that I'm really invested in managed to avoid that for the most part, even if it's now getting the wrong kind of attention. 

 

[You Know Who]

3 hours ago, Davedevil said:

Ms. Marvel - The finale was really good.

  Reveal hidden contents

I enjoyed the Home Alone feel of it even though the imagery itself that they were dealing with was really disturbing, especially recently (which explains the disclaimer up front).

More than anything, they nailed how Kamala would act in that situation. She would use violence to protect people, not to hurt anyone. The stretching effects strained credibility, but didn't break it, which I'm sure is why they were nervous about the whole thing.

My biggest issue is the villains. They are not convincing at all, especially Kamran. I couldn't help but be reminded of Hayden Christensen in Revenge of the Sith, he does a decent job looking desperate and angry, but that's about it.

Side note but, man did it take me out just to hear the name Clandestines spoken out loud. I had an issue of ClanDestine guest starring Spider-Man as a kid, so that was something I had a bit of history with, but dismissed as being far too obscure for the MCU.

I wish it could've been 8-10 episodes, or hell, a regular 20-24 episode season. I doubt they could've pulled in all of the cast members, or had as much CGI (thinking mainly of the animated thoughts) that way, but teen heroes especially need the serialized format.

Oh, and about that change:

  Reveal hidden contents

I frankly missed that whole mutant implication (and 90s X-Men theme drop) because I thought they were just being coy about the Inhumans. 

I'm okay with the change, frankly I don't care what her affiliation is, because it hasn't affected her story. Her supporting cast is her family, friends, and her fellow teen heroes. 

I didn't even watch the other shows and I'm just sick at all the speculation of when we'll get the Mutants or the FF. To be fair, Marvel started it with the casting of Evan Peters back in WandaVision, and I'm sure they enjoy the attention they get from the fan theories. I'm just glad this show that I'm really invested in managed to avoid that for the most part, even if it's now getting the wrong kind of attention. 

 

Spoiler

I learned about the mutant reveal (though not through how it would be revealed) earlier in the day and I was hoping that Deever would somehow be turning out being Mystique (given her comic book roots, plus with Deever being portrayed a mean-looking redhead). Still, it's not too late.

 

[Donomark]

On 7/10/2022 at 7:25 AM, S-T said:

Deep into Season 3 of The Flash and the relationship between Iris and Barry is seriously creepy and cringeworthy. Joe West repeatedly refers to Barry as his "son," meaning that Joe's son is marrying Joe's daughter.

Um, ew?

Yuck.

This was avoided in the comics as Joe didn't raise Barry. You could have had them be next door neighbors and very close, without the super creepy vibe of a man's two children marrying each other.

Yes, I know they're not biologically related. But they were still raised in the same household, and Joe considers both to be his children.

My boy Bertone rants about this all the time, and it's not unfounded. Because Barry and Iris grew up together for close to ten years, it's too much for him to be harboring a crush and for Joe not to see that as the kids go through puberty. Best to never mention it again.

I think Ms. Marvel just about stuck the landing, but it didn't finish as blazingly awesome as how it started out. Those first two episodes were so much fun, and the more they got into the mythology and backstory of her abilities, the less invested I became. Because in the comics it's really simple. She got exposed to the Terrigen gas and became an InHuman. There was none of this Partition legacy and time travel and all that. It ultimately congested the origin story for a very street level hero.

And I thought the villains sucked. I didn't like how the Clandestined turned evil at the drop of a hat, specifically Najma. I just didn't buy her conviction and she wasn't in the least bit effectively sympathetic.

I think the show ended up being more about Indian-Pakistani representation than the life of Kamala Khan, as there kept on being montages and scenes of the show just stopping for several minutes to present that way of life. I was pretty grateful of the history aspect, as I was ignorant of it, but it didn't seem like they were confident in the super hero stuff or even had much of a story to fatten out the six episodes.

But the finale I enjoyed, especially when she EBIGGENED. That's her Marvel catchphrase, and it felt like Ms. Marvel to me. The reveal by Bruno at the end I don't mind, but a number of fans are salty on Twitter.

Overall I'm glad we're done with the origin and we can have simple Ms. Marvel adventures, because the cast is a real find, and is perfect.

[S-T]

On 7/15/2022 at 12:40 PM, Donomark said:

The reveal by Bruno at the end I don't mind, but a number of fans are salty on Twitter.

We don't talk about Bruno.

(My kids love that song and now I have it stuck in my head again.)

[Dread]

I finished my rewatch of Star Trek Deep Space Nine yesterday. It is, overall, excellent, and my favourite Trek by far. I will say that I could have used one more episode in the final season. The last 9 or 10 episodes are all one unfolding story (moreso than the whole 7 seasons are), and if felt rushed in the final episode.

Jumped back into Inventing Anna. The two female leads in this are just excellent.

Stacy and I are halfway through season 2 of Made For Love and it's solid.

I watched all of season 3 of Love Death Robots in one sitting yesterday as well. Great. 

[Donomark]

I've been casually re-watching Seinfeld in the past few months and consistently enjoy it. There's some definitely dated humor regarding gender politics and the show's kind of hobby obsession with racial stereotypes, specifically Asian people, but overall it's more clever than I knew when I watched it as a younger kid. Jason Alexander and Julia Louis Dreyfuss are just top level talents. Clearly supremely intelligent, intuitive performers who just crush every single script. They're pleasures to listen to in interviews as well. 

[dc20willsave]

Honestly, Jason and Julia are the best actors of the bunch. It's why Julia got as much work as she did post-Seinfeld. Jason has kept working since. Just true professionals!

[slothian]

1 hour ago, dc20willsave said:

Honestly, Jason and Julia are the best actors of the bunch. It's why Julia got as much work as she did post-Seinfeld. Jason has kept working since. Just true professionals!

No-one else could have pulled off the hotel manager role in Dunston Checks In quite the way Jason Alexander did.

And I say that only quasi tongue-in-cheek.

[Dread]

I watched all of SHORT TREKS and STAR TREK: LOWER DECKS. Watched the first episode of ORVILLE tonight. 

INVENTING ANNA is finished too. Great. 

[Dread]

Finished The Orville a while ago and it might be my new favourite Star Trek.

I caught up on Stargirl, which, besides the teen drama stuff, is excellent. It gets superheroics on a level that few films and TV shows do. The fight choreography is great and Luke Wilson rules. Season 3 is off to a good start.

I guess I also started and finished The Sandman since the last post in here and it left me a little cold. Some really solid episodes, but doesn't hang together as a story for me very well. Not dissimilar to the comics.

I recently finished season 1 of Doom Patrol and it's fucking wild. Really big weird swings that I dig.

[Dread]

The Patient (on FX...Disney+ in Canada) is really fucking good. Interesting thriller in 20 minute chunks.

She-Hulk is probably the most refreshing of the Marvel shows. There's only three things I don't like, but they are kind of hard to get over. Titania is a "superpowered influencer" *eyeroll.* The length of the show doesn't engender character work (it does in The Patient). There's very little room for anything other than quips. Finally, the CGI is embarrassingly awful.

[S-T]

Cobra Kai, Season 5.

Ralph Macchio is 5'8"

Sean Kanan is 6'0"

I was guffawing as soon as I saw this.

[S-T]

It has been a great show, but that was laughable.

[Dread]

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON is good, but it really is more of the same. However, Paddy Considine is my favourite actor, so there's that.

[slothian]

On 9/14/2022 at 10:05 PM, Dread said:

HOUSE OF THE DRAGON is good, but it really is more of the same. However, Paddy Considine is my favourite actor, so there's that.

[Dread]

2 minutes ago, slothian said:

One of cinema's greatest moments.

[You Know Who]

2 hours ago, Dread said:

One of cinema's greatest moments.

Amen! He’s quite good in Pride, Peaky Blinders, and his one scene in The Death of Stalin as well.

[Dread]

I always come back to this:

 

[You Know Who]

19 minutes ago, Dread said:

I always come back to this:

 

Hell hath no fury like a C-bomber from the East Midlands.

[Dread]

Six episodes in and She-Hulk introduces conflict. Who is writing this shit?

*I'm aware that there are many kinds of conflict, but things in the past five episodes (indeed, including most of the sixth episode) were farts in the wind as far as being inconsequential.