What are you watching and enjoying?

[Donomark]

Collateral Damage (2002):

Another in the post-Batman and Robin Arnold letdown movies, although this one had definite effort put into it. It's a drama, it's not meant to be a typical Arnold actioner. I think it starts out with promise, with clear dramatic ambitions. Elias Koteas is reliably good, and Arnold is allowed to give a strong performance as a grieving father. He doesn't go in on the tears, but his anguish is very tangible, and he's not pulling the tough guy face for the sake of being a badass. The movie wants to question the imagined equivalency of terrorists vs US imperialism, but it's not smart enough to sufficiently stick the landing. There's a "We're not so different, you and I" scene between Arnold and Bad Guy Cliff Curtis. John Tuturro and John Leguizamo have supporting roles that are essentially cameos, barely more than two scenes each.

This movie could've been interesting, but it's too straight face to be thoughtful or provocative. At the same time there's not enough harrowing action for Arnold to rise above, so it's not the action movie that The 6th Day turned out to be. I till say there's a fantastic final kill at the end, complete with suitable quip that gave the film a lot of points for me in the final minutes. Not enough to save it, but just enough for me to give a heartly laugh and round of applause. This movie isn't BAD, it's simply not very good.

[Dread]

I finally checked out the second season of Cursed Films. This continues to be a pretty great docuseries about notorious films, but I definitely start to roll my eyes once the discussion of them being cursed gets brought up. Particularly, the last episodes of both seasons of the show (Twilight Zone: The Movie and Cannibal Holocaust respectively) are some of the finest documentary work I've ever seen about film.

A couple episodes into Dimension 404 which feels like a 90s Outer Limits/Black Mirror mashup with a little bit of Creepshow and a lot less budget. First ep, I really enjoyed. The second was pretty ho-hum.

[Dread]

The Last Of Us is pretty great. Not as great as a lot of people are saying, but Pascal and Ramsey are really good in it and really good together. I could do without the flashback episodes. 

Can't believe it took this long for Bentley Little to have his own adaptation, but The Consultant on Prime is pretty great. They really updated it, bringing it to more of a modern digital corporate culture rather than the office/cubicle dynamic of the original novel. Christoph Waltz is fantastic and everyone else is too. I'll talk more about this on the show.

[Dread]

Currently binging Star Trek: Prodigy, which is excellently written and animated and voice acted. Fantastic way of doing Trek for kids. I only wish I had a younger kid who gave a shit to watch this with. Haha!

The "set design" and species/robots give off a veryStar Wars vibe. It kind of takes the best from SW (the visuals and the cool flying action) and mashes it with some of the best of Trek. I had no idea Kate Mulgrew was so involved, but halfway through the season and loving it. Also, it's a contender for best Trek uniform:

 

[Dread]

Iron Chef Legend is dumb fun on Netflix, but Marc Dacascos (sic) is ridiculously funny.

BEEF: Holy shit, this was awesome. I'm not the biggest Ali Wong fan, but she absolutely killed it in this series. And Stephen Yuen is one of the better actors working today. Amazing series. A real "The Nail" kind of vibe with all of the insanity that happens.

[Dread]

Started and finished Captive Audience: A Real American Horror Story. It's a 3 part docuseries on the Steven Stayner case and its fallout. Stayner was the subject of the 80s movie that haunted the parents of my generation: I Know My First Name is Steven. Like CASTING JON-BENET it mixes hollywood and reality by having some of the actors from the TV movie read transcripts of interviews their subjects gave long after the events covered in the film. Very interesting watch.

Welcome to Wrexham: this is the docuseries about Ryan Reynolds and Rob McelHenney buying the welsh football team. This is a great series that I'm not finished yet, but I really love the focus on the various characters and fans that support the team as well as the genuine laughs. They even do a great job filming the games so that it looks exciting. (I have watched soccer before. It isn't). Mostly, I'm just really happy to see that Mac from It's Always Sunny was able to buy a really nice house in Hollywood. I'm a simple man. 

[Dread]

We're four episodes into Lisey's Story (we have Apple TV now), and it's pretty great. Hard not to be great with the cast. Julianne Moore, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Clive Owen in every episode? Yes, please. Each teleplay written by Stephen King and it's based on his favourite of his novels. 

[Davedevil]

Kim's Convenience: Been watching this on the treadmill. Amazed at how it can have such an easygoing vibe while also having some of the most painfully awkward interactions I've seen in a show lately.

[Dread]

Fuck...new BARRY broke my heart. 

[Dread]

Finished Lisey's Story. Beautiful storytelling. Wonderful.

Finished Defending Jacob. Chris Evans plays a lawyer whose son is accused of killing his bully and all the insanity that comes with it. Really incredible writing.

Just started Severance. Two episodes in, but I'm intrigued. It's a slow burn for sure. Very similar vibes to Homecoming.

[Dread]

New Barry ruled.

Binged all of The History of Swear Words on Netflix featuring the delightfully ridiculous hosting of one Nicolas Cage. Fun. And informative!

[Dread]

Because I'm pathological, I decided I can't start Picard, because I never finished TNG. So, starting with season 3 because I'm not a fucking masochist, I'm doing a rewatch. Finished 3 and started 4 last night with the two-part Best of Both Worlds. This show is firing on almost all cylinders. Out of all the episodes (26!) I think there's only three I outright didn't like. Seeing it in HD is funny because the effects look quite good, but Data's makeup is often uneven. 

I may watch the DS9 pilot again just to fully integrate this moment into the "Picard is a real asshole" realm. 

[Dread]

All caught up on Platonic on Apple TV. I really like Rose Byrne. She makes Seth Rogen entirely tolerable. 

Didn't mention that I finished Severance. Fucking crazy.

Just about done with season 6 of TNG now. 

[Dread]

Finished TNG last night. Man season 7 is a real stinker overall. 3-6 have far fewer lame episodes per season, and now I'm thinking maybe I should go back to seasons 1 and 2. But I also started Star Trek: Picard last night and three episodes in  it's rad. I love that it isn't so much a Star Trek story as it is a story set within the Star Trek universe. I am expecting that to change by the end, but it's a fun and nice switch from the typical Trek. Basically, I needed NOTHING from TNG to understand what is going on in Picard. It seems to be playing on things that happened since the end of TNG. Is this movie stuff or is it just made up for the show?

We're all caught up on The Crowded Room too. Really well done 70s-set series. Tom Holland's American accent bugs the hell out of me. It's the same one he uses as Spider-Man. It's one of those sounds that my damaged ears can't quite pick up. Other than that, I love it. I want a lot more of Amanda Seyfreid in EVERYTHING please.

 

[Dread]

Ok, everything I've seen about Picard boils down to: season three is the only one worth your time OR one and three are good. That second opinion I've only seen once, but I agree with it. At least the season one part. Season one rules. Season two is some of the dumbest shit I've ever seen. But I didn't think that until about halfway through the season. Starting three tonight.

Dead Ringers on Prime is compelling, but I find it a little bit...flat. Not sure how else to say it.

[S-T]

I made it through most of Season 9 of The Walking Dead before losing interest. I didn't actively dislike it, I just wasn't motivated to keep going. Now my Netflix plan doesn't carry it.

Oh well.

But I got to see Michonne's katana at the Smithsonian Museum of American History when I was in Washington D.C. last week.

I marked out.

[Dread]

3 episodes in and Picard fucking rules. This is peak Trek.

[Dread]

Hijack on Apple TV is a great fucking thriller.

Strange New Worlds this season is just kind of meh for me so far.

In fact, I'm enjoying my rewatch of Enterprise more. 

[Dread]

Finished SNW . It had its ups and downs. Overall, good season. Had a good chat about it on the Postcards from a Dying World Podcast. 

Finished The Crowded Room: solid.  

Finished the Enterprise rewatch. Contender for best Trek. Terrible finale though. Yikes. 

Halfway through season 2 of Harley Quinn (animated). Those are the only seasons on Netflix in Canada, but I'm really enjoying it. 

Of course the twists and turns of your everyday episode of Love Island USA. 

[Dread]

Rewatched season one of Young Justice. Was gonna get a free trial and binge the rest of the show, but maybe might jump back to a Venture Bros. Rewatch. so I can watch the movie finale. I don't need a rewatch fro Metalocalypse, but I'm trying to find The Doomstar Requiem to watch before the newest movie. 

Trash reality: Love Island USA done. I don't understand how people can make out with, at least get to third base with, sleep beside someone else, say I"I love you" to for six weeks and get excited when asked to be their girlfriend/boyfriend. Is that a Millennial thing? Started Ultimatum. The most bullshit reality show of them all. it's awful. This one sees me using my phone for roughly 92% of every episode. I look up when the camera lands on an ass. Down for Love is a title I'm not sure is very appropriate, but maybe they can get by because Kiwis are so harmless. It's a dating show for people with Downs Syndrome (mostly, but everyone is a PWD) and it's absolutely lovely. Charming as all hell. Sweet, sad and funny. It's really great. Highly recommended on Netflix. If I ever get down to New Zealand I'll be looking for my man Brayden to buy him a beer. That guy gave me so much joy.

 

[Dread]

So here's a funny thing about Young Justice and it's streaming in Canada. Netflix used to have all of it. I imagine it did up until the WB Discovery bullshit. Same time all the Star Trek stuff disappeared off of Crave in Canada. But, by the time I went to watch it on Netflix, only season one was available. But I start a free trial and watch all of season two. As you may remember, S1 was 26 episodes and S2 was 20, but after that, YJ went to a more Netflix-style 13 episode miniseries/season, and is considered a six season show up here. On IMDB, it's considered 4 because they take the four 13 episode seasons and make them two. So, everything is available to stream except for season 3 (or the first 13 episodes of season 3 if you do the IMDB thing. BUT season 1 ends with a huge reveal and then season 2 takes place five years later, so there is a precedent for an interruption in the timeline naturally. I've also heard some shit about "season 3" that makes me not care so much about seeing it. Anyway, finished season 5. The show is remarkably well-written and quite violent. More than I remember. Great obscure characters.

[Donomark]

My Adventures with Superman has finished its first season. Overall this show is a very fun, fresh and energetic take on the mythos, actively acknowledging that they're swerving a few things and pulling some surprises for those who do not know the history of the character. And those people are out there, I've a co-worker who loves the show and has no idea what to expect or what was done before in the comics.

It got better and better for me with each episode. Initially I thought they laid into the himbo, harmless milquetoast persona for Clark too much. This is the first version of the character where the nebbish, shy and anxious Christopher Reeve Clark Kent IS the actual real persona. I'm all for a more wholesome, less aggressively toxic Superman, but early on I was like "Okay, come on, he's gotta be more proactive and determined than this." But the character quickly grew into that before long, in an organic way. I still wouldn't have started it the way they did exactly, and I prefer Superman to know everything about himself before he dons the cape, but it's a new version and thus fair game. The multiverse episode explicitly invoking the differences made it even easier for me to roll with. And Jack Quaid does a solid job. In the latter half of the season, there are some terrific moments, with the penultimate episode having one of the coolest Superman "feats" in years depicted in animation.

I refer to this series as "webtoon" Superman, in the same vein as Wayne Family Adventures. It's 21st century anime Superman, done by millennials with a hope-punk aesthetic. It carries all the plusses and minuses of those traits, with the negatives being incredibly few. People got upset at Lois halfway thru the series, and while I initially felt there was real overreaction, I di think the show leaned too heavily into criticizing a trope of the franchise rather than focusing on the exact circumstances of its own history. Because Clark is very much still figuring himself out, and for characters to feel entitled to know everything about their friend like that, I do find encroachingly offensive. But it worked out.

In the end it's great to see the Superman franchise take another W after Superman and Lois. The character needs to claw his way back up on top after a tumultuous 20+ years in pop culture. Smallville's the last time he was generally enjoyed by the masses.

[Dread]

Finished Young Justice. Not a big fan of the ending, but still hit a lot of good notes.

Invasion: this shit is too slow. I think I'm done.

Chucky: season one was fun and season 2 is even funner. This shit gets CRAZY. Jennifer Tilly is the best. Watched because it's on a free trial streamer I'm dropping. Once season three drops in October, I'll wait to see if any other streamers get it before doing a month's trial again.

[Donomark]

Jujutsu Kaisen season 2 just reiterates that you must not trust its happy-go-lucky opening titles. When Chainsaw Man was out, I began thinking it was a harder, ediger JJK. But JJK is still plenty dark on its own, it just features lighter characters. I also appreciated the clip show episodes, having not re-watched the series since it last aired.

[Dread]

Chucky was awesome. I'll probably be paying for one month of this streamer again once season three is over and I can binge it. If the end of season 2 is any indication, 3 will be a wild departure.

After that, watched a couple episodes of the newest season of the Eric Andre Show. Fucking hysterical. I miss Hannibal though.