Big Blue Huddle

Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on January 14, 2025, 11:45:34 AMSteve, I'm sure you read Carl Hiaasen's "Bad Monkey", so I was wondering how closely you think the show has stuck to the original script. I thought it was pretty close and I thought casting Vince Vaughn as Andrew Yancey was sheer genius...but that's just me

Actually Ric I haven't read it. In fact I haven't read any of his last three books. Star Island was the last of his books I've read. I'm going to try to make it a point to catch up. As far as Vince Vaughn as Yancey, it took a bit to get used to him, as the Yancey character appeared in prior books and I had a mental image of him that initially didn't jive with how Vaughn plays him. But now that I'm used to it I'm loving his character.

Quote from: Sem on January 14, 2025, 12:00:53 PMActually Ric I haven't read it. In fact I haven't read any of his last three books. Star Island was the last of his books I've read. I'm going to try to make it a point to catch up. As far as Vince Vaughn as Yancey, it took a bit to get used to him, as the Yancey character appeared in prior books and I had a mental image of him that initially didn't jive with how Vaughn plays him. But now that I'm used to it I'm loving his character.

The last book I read by him was "Squeeze Me", and I didn't like it. Plot was nonexistent, and it was really a political piece that ridicules the Trump family to a outrageous degree, turning Melania into a cheap trailer-trash whore always on the cheat and only worried about her jewelry and hiding her affairs, and the Don as a fat slob with an IQ of his shoe size. I don't mind a little political satire being woven into a storyline, but when it's dripping with hatred and just cheap shot after cheap shot, with absolutely no accompanying plot (other than a snake ate a debutante)...it sucks (I don't care which side of the political spectrum one is on). To me, it was a book that should not define his writing career, but it certainly didn't help. What I got out of it was that he hates Trump with so much passion that he decided to write a book with no plot just to mercilessly ridicule the man and his family to the level of inbred hillbillies

I have one of his books in queue, but not sure if I'll pick it up as I have a dozen others in queue

Wrapped up the finale of "Land Man" the other day. 10 episodes total in season one. This show was a solid A grade for me. Excellent.

Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on January 14, 2025, 11:41:30 AMI finished it last night. Loved it. I want more. I hope there are more seasons to come

As I laid in bed last night after reading several chapters of the latest book I'm into, I couldn't help but get some of the things from the show out of my mind. Then it hit me like a slap in the face; I know why Taylor Sheridan's tv shows have such a huge following and why people love them. He hearkens back to the same thing that made writers/producers in the 50's and 60's successful: "Machismo is back"! Yup, the John Wayne effect being brought back to television. Extremely tough men who take no crap from anyone...a divergence from most shows that blend social engineering into the plot. Machismo has become a rarity in Hollywood. But no matter what Sheridan show you watch, there will be so much testosterone in the shows that you can almost smell it through the tv...lol

One scene in Landman that made me literally laugh out loud. Tommy (Billy Bob) gets a call from his drop dead gorgeous ex-wife discussing whether she should come to west Texas to see her son in the hospital. All the while the discussion taking place, his ex (Michelle Randolph aka "Aynsley") is in high-flirt mode teasing him, but he doesn't ever take the bait (as all of us would...lol). She finally in her frustration says, "well, should I come or not"? His deadpan response was, "I could give a sh1t if you come or not"? and her reply was priceless, "well, if that doesn't sum up our marriage" (a little double entendre...lol). And the way he treated the female lawyer with rude comebacks over and over, rather than being impressed by a pretty woman was pure machismo

Yup, machismo is back. Any of the leads in the Yellowstone show and it's spinoff prequels (1883, 1923, and the upcoming 1944) have characters dripping in tough, no nonsense, male characters...from Sam Elliott to Harrison Ford to Kevin Costner. Old fashioned morality and persona...and the women are just as tough as the men. Machismo at it's finest

A little trivia: Billy Bob Thornton was Marshal Jim Courtright in 1883, and Michelle Randolph (Billy Bob's wife in Landmark) was Elizabeth Stafford in 1923

Sheridan gave Billy Bob a script and he said, "once I read the first script or two, it was like, 'Oh my goodness, this is my voice! '"... right in my wheelhouse

Couldn't agree more Ric. Look at how Landsman stated right from the opening scene where Bill Bob is in that chair with the hood over his head. Most would be shitting in their pants but not Billy Bob, he comes out threatening and cussing and carrying the action to the baddies.

Quote from: LennG on January 14, 2025, 08:30:22 PMCouldn't agree more Ric. Look at how Landsman stated right from the opening scene where Bill Bob is in that chair with the hood over his head. Most would be shitting in their pants but not Billy Bob, he comes out threatening and cussing and carrying the action to the baddies.

Or going to the hospital with a finger nearly cutoff from an accident and demanding the nurses to "just cut it off the rest of the way", and while being lectured why the surgeon would never do so, takes a jackknife out of his pocket and does it himself right in front of her while she's still explaining why it shouldn't be done...LOL. Interestingly, you never really see the missing finger on Billy Bob until the last episode (unless I missed it somewhere)

I must make a correction from my previous post. The actress in Landmark, that is also Elizabeth Stafford in the show "1923", is not the woman who played Billy Bob's wife, but rather Billy Bob's daughter, who I liked very much because she really liked to flaunt a lot of skin...lol, unlike in 1923

I mentioned it a while back, but "High Potential" (Hulu) is a very good series. A single mother of three has an amazing ability to see detail that others don't. She ends up being a pain in the ass as a "consultant" to a detective who doesn't appreciate her help. Hot chick with a motormouth. Easy watch, a few laughs, and interesting

Interestingly, I found another show I've been watching that is right along the same theme. Only instead of a single mother with superpowers of seeing things others don't, this is a woman who is a professional con woman and ends up as a "consultant", hooked to the hip of a detective who doesn't appreciate her help. It's Australian without the Australian accent. Hot chick with a motormouth. It's called "Wild Cards" (Prime)

Quote from: Jolly Blue Giant on January 18, 2025, 02:08:42 PMI mentioned it a while back, but "High Potential" (Hulu) is a very good series. A single mother of three has an amazing ability to see detail that others don't. She ends up being a pain in the ass as a "consultant" to a detective who doesn't appreciate her help. Hot chick with a motormouth. Easy watch, a few laughs, and interesting

Interestingly, I found another show I've been watching that is right along the same theme. Only instead of a single mother with superpowers of seeing things others don't, this is a woman who is a professional con woman and ends up as a "consultant", hooked to the hip of a detective who doesn't appreciate her help. It's Australian without the Australian accent. Hot chick with a motormouth. It's called "Wild Cards" (Prime)

We started watching High Potential as it is really up my wife's alley and we liked it. My problem with it is she talks so darn fast and I have to read alson, it bothers me at times.

Also, I simply cannot binge-watch this show. I can watch an episode every few days but not one right after the other. There is just something about her that grates on me a bit and I can only take it in small doses. We will watch season 2 also, but in time.

We've been watching High Potential since the beginning. Love it!
Never saw Wild Cards but will give it a try. Looks similar.
Thanks

A combination of what are you watching and what are you reading. I saw that Reacher #3 will drop on February 20th. The first 3 episodes. Then 1 a week until March 27. It is based on the book "Persuader".  I decided to read the book again and just finished it. Just hope they stick to the story.

The first couple series were pretty close to the book IMO. Compared to the movies, at least they got the lead character right. I understand the theater draw of movies starring Tom Cruise, but anyone who is a reader of Lee Childs' books, were upset that Cruise played Reacher. The series is much better

Quote from: ozzie on January 19, 2025, 09:34:46 AMWe've been watching High Potential since the beginning. Love it!
Never saw Wild Cards but will give it a try. Looks similar.
Thanks

I misspoke (misinformed) when saying that Wild Cards was filmed in Australia. I tried to figure out what city they were in, and in one episode, the surfers were talking with an Australian accent, and one other scene they mentioned something about Australia...so I jumped to conclusions. But it didn't make sense because the stars had no Australian accents and all the cars had the driver's side on the left like in the U.S., but I've been all over this country and recognize cityscapes and the one in this show didn't fit any that I've seen first hand. For whatever reason, the show seems hellbent on not providing the name of the city they are in, which bugs me because to me that's a big part of a show. So I did some research...it's in Vancouver, Canada. Martin Sheen comes into play in several episodes, although I haven't seen him yet, but he plays in the first two series. The girl who plays Max (Vanessa Morgan) was the teen singing star in the series, "Riverdale", who later became the lesbian partner of Cheryl Blossom (Madelaine Petsch) in the show. She seems much older now then when she was in Riverdale putting on singing shows at high school

My mrs has been in hospital for surgery so I've staved off some shows over the past couple of weeks. However, she is being discharged this afternoon so I suspect we will start Severance on Apple TV this evening.

The first season is a couple of years old, but I completely missed it. Sounds like an interesting premise for a show.

Night Agent season 2 this Thursday, then 1923 February 23rd, and as mentioned Reacher season 3 the 20th.

Quote from: EDjohnst1981 on January 20, 2025, 06:29:53 AMMy mrs has been in hospital for surgery so I've staved off some shows over the past couple of weeks. However, she is being discharged this afternoon so I suspect we will start Severance on Apple TV this evening.

The first season is a couple of years old, but I completely missed it. Sounds like an interesting premise for a show.

We blew through Season 1 of this (9 Episodes), it's very good.

It's really hard to pigeonhole this, but if you like sci-fi meshed with ethics/morality, then this might be of interest.

I wrapped up Bad Monkey on MAX a couple weeks ago. Really enjoyed it, I hope they make more series from Hiaasen's books.

I watched all three available seasons of Canal Boat Diaries on AcornTV. Good, relaxing documentary I mentioned before. Strange though that Acorn had seasons 1, 3, and 4 of the 5 season show. Hopefully seasons 2 and 5 make their way on sometime.

Mentioned earlier Bookie, starring Sebastian Maniscalco has been pretty good. Quite a few laughs along the way. One more episode, S2E8, will be released on Thursday and then that'll be it for season 2. No word yet if there will be a 3rd season. There's been a handful of guest appearances - Charlie Sheen, Ray Romano, Brad Garrett, Zach Braff, Laraine Newman, also Wayne Knight and Danny Woodburn (Newman and Mickey on Seinfeld).

I'm part way through season two of another British crime drama set in the mid-70's called Dalgliesh. Good series. It's an easy watch, with two 45 minute episodes to solve each crime. Lead character, Adam Dalgliesh, is the  Detective Chief Inspector for the Metropolitan Police at New Scotland Yard, London. He's also a published poet. Shades Lou Boldt, the Seattle Police Sergeant who, on occasion, can be found late nights playing jazz piano at a local jazz club, in Ridley Pearson novels.