Big Blue Huddle

Quote from: Slugsy-Narrows on September 07, 2023, 05:13:25 PMLioness on Paramount+ is amazing!

Wheel of Time Season 2 - not impressed

Agreed on Lioness Slugs. I've been pumping it here already. Absolutely lights out stuff. Requires an element of suspension of disbelief, but IMO that doesn't in any way worsen the show. My wife and I loved it. Edge of your seat type stuff in every episode.

I just started watching Yellowjackets. My first thoughts on it, I wasn't too thrilled, but now I am almost finished with season 1 and it is more enjoyable. I still have major problems with how it plays out, but I find myself drawn to it more as the show continues on.

I am a huge fan of anything historical, like shows about famous people from the past, wars, and many historical happenings no matter where they are on. I just love anything by Ken Burns and several good series on the History Channel. I think it was a week or two ago, they had a 3 part series on 3 world-famous people from the past.
#1 was Alexander the Great
#2-Julius Caesar
#3-Cleopatra
The series was Ancient Empires.
I don't know if this is going to continue with more shows, but the first 3 (or only 3) were top notch each being 2 1/2 hours)

Watched a 'Great???' comedy/tragedy on Sunday. Was left stunned afterward.

NY Giants football.

Quote from: LennG on September 12, 2023, 02:11:13 PMWatched a 'Great???' comedy/tragedy on Sunday. Was left stunned afterward.

NY Giants football.

Yes, I recall simultaneously laughing/crying during that one.

Don't think it's winning any awards though.

 Over the past couple of months, I have watched 2 great shows

The Hunters with Al Pacino (2 seasons). About a secret group of people who hunt down and kill Nazis who have escaped punishment from WWII. Sounds like something we have seen before, but it is very well done, parts are gripping and Pacino, in a sort of 'Tour De Farce' role, is perfect.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7456722/

The other is ' Ghosts of Beirut' a terrific docudrama about a real terrorist (probably #1 on America's most wanted list) who killed more Americans than any other person, how he was able to do what he did and how he was finally brought down. Really edge of your seat sometimes.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt21100682/

Highly recommend both shows

I just finished the first season of Yellowjackets. I will start the 2nd season shortly as it does hold some interest as to what happened out there and why (and now kidnappers????)
When I started this series, the first couple of shows I wasn't enthralled. I stuck with it and it did become interesting as the past blended with the present. Still, after a while with not much happening in regard to what really happened out there I was starting to grow frustrated, with the present storyline more interesting than the past storyline. We know only certain people survived so why not delve into this and not pussyfoot around it to drag it out?

I also watched a brand new movie on HULU, "No One Will Save You". In my local paper, they basically raved about this movie. Briefly, a young woman, living alone in a sort of remote part of town, suddenly encounters an alien in her house. Not to say anything, the movie goes on, as there is a complete alien invasion. It is sort of like Invasion of the Body Snatchers meets War of the Worlds meeting several other SciFi movies. What makes this movie more remarkable, there is no dialogue at all. The leading lady, who is basically the only character in the movie, besides a few aliens, only has 5 words to say in the entire movie. There are many grunts, screams, and assorted other noises, but the script was pretty easy to learn. So overall, I was very involved in this movie, until maybe near the end, when I was completely lost as to WTF happened. I need to go back and rewatch the ending, so if anyone else watches this and I would most definitely recommend it for sheer action and suspense, let's talk about it. One thing, for sure, it wasn't boring, with non stop action all the way thru.

I have been watching a series that I enjoy, but don't know if others would. A lot of nudity/sex, a lot of conventional sex and a little bit of unconventional types (masturbation, homo, rough, forced, etc), priest abuse, mucho bloodshed, lotta killin, lotta screwin, lotta deceit, lying, cheating, and broken bones, etc. The series is called, "Ray Donovan" and it's on Showtime (I have it through Paramount+). Not to be confused by the movie with the same name...this is the TV series

Synopsis: An deep-rooted Irish family from the Southside of Boston (called "Southies", notorious crime groups area) moved to Los Angeles to make their fortune. Three brothers, Ray, Terry (has Parkinson disease), and Bunchie (abused as a kid by a priest and lot of psychological problems). They set up a "Fight Ring" training facility in L.A. and it's run by Terry, but Ray uses it to launder money and Terry doesn't know it. The ring leader is Ray Donovan (Liev Schreiber) who is in cahoots with Jewish Lawyer Ezra Goldman (Elliot Gould) and ex Iraeli Massad strongman, Avi (Steven Bauer). The father of Ray is Mickey Donovan (John Voigt) who is fresh out of prison after serving 20 years in the big house for murder. Voigt's character is irritating, but his performance is Emmy worthy. Enter Boston Southie gangster "Sully" Sullivan played by James Wood (another Emmy worthy performance) who has a bone to pick with Mickey. Sully kills his wife to stop her nagging and is getting 2 million dollars from Ray to kill his father Mickey. The Donovans and Sullivans are bitter enemies and cut from the same cloth, that of the gangster lifestyle where most problems are settled by murder

One of the hot women in the show that mixes it up with Ray (he screws her against the wall, as well as she screws him over). Her goal is to bring an NFL team back to L.A. and build the most iconic football stadium ever built

Ray Donovan is a "fixer" or "bagman" for the rich and famous and many iconic big name characters in Hollywood and the music industry, and has top police officers in his pocket as well as the FBI. He buys off a parole officer, gambling addict Wendell Pierce (played by Ronald Keith, who played high-powered attorney Robert Zane in "Suits"). Ray can fix any situation, get rid of any dead body, makes impossible situations go away, and oh yeah, has to kill people a lot to solve a problem

Anyway, like I said...probably not for everyone, but I'm getting into it. Seven seasons long and I've finished three

 I have watched Ray Donavon from the get-go, and had a love/hate relationship with is. At times it is brilliant, and at other times, it just leaves one scratching their heads. I did enjoy it for the most part, mainly because of John Voight's character and performance.
I don't know how far you are in the series (seasons) so I won't do any 'spoiler' things on something that really pissed me off and I stopped watching.
I haven't seen the last and final season because of that.

Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on September 27, 2023, 04:30:10 PMI have been watching a series that I enjoy, but don't know if others would. A lot of nudity/sex, a lot of conventional sex and a little bit of unconventional types (masturbation, homo, rough, forced, etc), priest abuse, mucho bloodshed, lotta killin, lotta screwin, lotta deceit, lying, cheating, and broken bones, etc. The series is called, "Ray Donovan" and it's on Showtime (I have it through Paramount+). Not to be confused by the movie with the same name...this is the TV series

Synopsis: An deep-rooted Irish family from the Southside of Boston (called "Southies", notorious crime groups area) moved to Los Angeles to make their fortune. Three brothers, Ray, Terry (has Parkinson disease), and Bunchie (abused as a kid by a priest and lot of psychological problems). They set up a "Fight Ring" training facility in L.A. and it's run by Terry, but Ray uses it to launder money and Terry doesn't know it. The ring leader is Ray Donovan (Liev Schreiber) who is in cahoots with Jewish Lawyer Ezra Goldman (Elliot Gould) and ex Iraeli Massad strongman, Avi (Steven Bauer). The father of Ray is Mickey Donovan (John Voigt) who is fresh out of prison after serving 20 years in the big house for murder. Voigt's character is irritating, but his performance is Emmy worthy. Enter Boston Southie gangster "Sully" Sullivan played by James Wood (another Emmy worthy performance) who has a bone to pick with Mickey. Sully kills his wife to stop her nagging and is getting 2 million dollars from Ray to kill his father Mickey. The Donovans and Sullivans are bitter enemies and cut from the same cloth, that of the gangster lifestyle where most problems are settled by murder

One of the hot women in the show that mixes it up with Ray (he screws her against the wall, as well as she screws him over). Her goal is to bring an NFL team back to L.A. and build the most iconic football stadium ever built

Ray Donovan is a "fixer" or "bagman" for the rich and famous and many iconic big name characters in Hollywood and the music industry, and has top police officers in his pocket as well as the FBI. He buys off a parole officer, gambling addict Wendell Pierce (played by Ronald Keith, who played high-powered attorney Robert Zane in "Suits"). Ray can fix any situation, get rid of any dead body, makes impossible situations go away, and oh yeah, has to kill people a lot to solve a problem

Anyway, like I said...probably not for everyone, but I'm getting into it. Seven seasons long and I've finished three

That will save the trouble of watching the first three seasons.

"Gen V" the boys spinoff dropped 3 episodes and is great so far.

Also the continental tv show from the John Wick universe starring Mel Gibson has 2 episodes out so far and i hated the first 15 minutes and enjoyed the rest lol.

Watched "Las Vegas" that just dropped on Netflix last night. Sort of an "old man's" feel good version of the "Hangover". Quick synopsis: four men are retired and one of them is getting married, so they decide to meet in Las Vegas for a bachelor's party. Morgan Freeman, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, and Kevin Kline. Not a bad way to spend an evening for a few chuckles and watching a few great stars nearing the ends of their careers. One wise ass kid calls one of them, "nearly departed"...LOL

Speaking of Netflix they recently announced yet another rate hike will be coming soon which will take the standard package from $15.49 up to between $17-$18 per month. At that point I'll seriously consider dropping it as I am just not watching it enough to justify the price.

But...last night I watched the series finale of the Netflix original, "Sex Education." The four season series far exceeded my expectations, and although it probably ended at the right point - wrapping all the storylines up neatly - I will miss it.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/sex_education

Quote from: Sem on October 05, 2023, 12:29:20 PMSpeaking of Netflix they recently announced yet another rate hike will be coming soon which will take the standard package from $15.49 up to between $17-$18 per month. At that point I'll seriously consider dropping it as I am just not watching it enough to justify the price.

But...last night I watched the series finale of the Netflix original, "Sex Education." The four season series far exceeded my expectations, and although it probably ended at the right point - wrapping all the storylines up neatly - I will miss it.

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/sex_education

Steve

I also dropped Netflix a while back. It just wasn't worth the cost (old cost) to justify spending almost $200 a year to watch a few decent shows. I have gotten great deals on MAX, Paramount+ Hulu, and Peacock. I already have Prime so how much can one watch? I will miss certain things on Netflix, but since they clamped down on sharing and now raising their price when there is so much else out there, I think they are headed for more problems than they bargained for.

Be prepared

A terrible, rainy Saturday and I am not a college football guy. I have been watching certain series that I usually watch on Saturdays as my wife goes up for nap time, but today, I saw in our paper today that there were 2 new movies premiering on Paramount/Showtime and both looked like something I would like to watch.

Movie #1--Pet Sematary--Bloodlines, supposedly a sort of prequel to the Steven King original and several other follow-ups. First, I enjoyed the original Pet Sematary. It is sort of a classic now, a pretty good movie from the King novel. The follow-ups stunk, but I thought, hey a good horror movie to start the day. It starred David Duchovney (Mulder from the X-Files), so how bad could it be? I was wrong, it was bad. Slow, dreary, and made absolutely no sense. Another movie made to capitalize on the franchise name. I turned it off about 2/3 of the way thru, hoping it would get better, it didn't.

Movie #2-----A bit of background first. I am a huge Humphrey Bogart fan and have seen most of his movies many times. I truly believe he should have won several other Oscars for Best Actor, which he didn't. One of my favorite roles was Captain Queeg from the Caine Mutiny, also a huge favorite of mine. So when I saw, again, on Paramount, that a brand new version of this movie had debuted, I couldn't wait to see it. , I usually never want to watch a remake of a true classic, but this was supposed to be different, and the last movie was directed by William Friedkin (The Exorcist, the French Connection), so after a bad start with movie #1, I settled in to hopefully enjoy this remake.
I don't know who has seen the original Caine Mutiny, but this version, The Caine Mutiny Court Marshall

https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-caine-mutiny-court-martial-movie-review-2023. This later version played entirely in the courtroom where the original told the story from one of the officer's point of view, Mr. Keith. Here. the story was told thru the testimony of the main characters who were the same as in the original. Keifer Southerland played Capt Queeg and was very good at it. (NO where near as good as Bogey) but he made you believe his part. To make this a bit shorter, I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. Even though you know the outcome (you do if you've seen the original), it was gripping at times. I am always a sucker for a good courtroom drama, and this played out extremely well. Even if you have never seen the original movie, I would highly recommend this one.

Movie #3--- I was just thumbing thru what was also on Paramount and I saw a movie I had been meaning to watch for a while, so I started watching, thinking I would take a break, eat dinner, and then return a bit later. I got so wrapped up in the movie, dinner had to wait. "13 Hours, The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi".
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4172430/. A true story of the attack on the American embassy in Benghazi Libya in 2012. We we follow history we know the basic story of how our ambassador was killed there while some American forces there were detained from trying to get there to help. When they did there were ferocious firefights with them trying to protect other Americans trapped there. A movie right up my alley, and I got so wrapped up in it, a s I said, dinner had to wait. Excellent action, sometimes trying to see who was who, but a truly heroic stand by a small contingent of Americans. Again, if action is your game, this is one you shouldn't miss.

A ahrd day of doing nothing, but to find 2 very good movies to watch was truly a treat.

Lenn. I saw The Caine Mutiny yesterday and thought it was very well done. I thought the defense attorney was very well played. I won't make a comparison to the movie but I have gone on record saying I never cared much for Bogart. I would recommend this version.

I think the next one on my list is Equalizer 3. (Thank you Superbox 4).  I may have to wait for awhile as I told my son in law I'd watch it with him and he's not easy to catch up with sometimes.

Bill