What are we watching these days?

[LennG]

Is it streaming on any of the platforms Lenn? I've not seen t advertised anywhere

Ric

I don't know. I have the History Channel as a regular in my cable package (yes, I still have cable) and I watch a lot of stuff on this channel. After that, again, I'm not sure.

[LennG]

I've heard good things about Shogun.

Thanks, it is up as the next thing I plan on watching.

[Jclayton92]

We got Shogun which was the best series of the past year and then Mayor of Kingstown starts a week or so ago. Now we get The Boys season 4 and House of the Dragon season 2. Finally some elite content to watch.

Also heard The Grab which just came out is already in the mix for best documentary of the year.

Found a guilty pleasure for the first time in my life tv show wise. 60 Days In is extremely fun for what it is. Normal people in jail for 60 days to see if they can make it.

[EDjohnst1981]

Slow Horses on Apple TV+

I really like it.

[DaveBrown74]

Slow Horses on Apple TV+

I really like it.

Oldman is one of the best in the business, and has been for a long time.

[squibber]

I finished watching the documentary American Conspiracy The Octopus Murders on Netflix. It's an engrossing and complex 4 episode story.

It starts out with a small software company that sells a powerful new software to the department of Justice. The DOJ drives the software company out of business and keeps the software for covert reasons. An investigative journalist digs deep into the story and finds out there is much more to the story and ends up dead in what appears as a suicide but is likely a murder.

Too complicated to explain so I will use the words DOJ, FBI, CIA, hit men, weapons manufacturers, drug cartels, organized crime, computer experts.

[Sem]

Sounds interesting Squibber, I may check that one out.

[LennG]

 I had this on my DVR for a few weeks but watched it yesterday. It was on the History Channel and was a 2-hour sort of documentary on Jesse Owens.

https://www.history.com/specials/triumph-jesse-owens-and-the-berlin-olympics

I found it quite interesting and it contained many things I just didn't know about him, his young life and especially after the Olympics.

If you get the History Channel, I would recommend watching this most interesting show.

[LennG]

I just finished rewatching the first season of The House of the Dragon, the prequel to  Game of Thrones. As I said, I tried to just watch the last couple of episodes and then try and pick it up but it was impossible. So much I didn't remember.
Like before, it starts out slow but builds as each episode airs. The last 2-3 were as good as many GOT episodes. I am now stoked to watch the new season but I will give it a couple more weeks until I delve into it.

[DaveBrown74]

Don't ask me how I got started on this one, but there's a docu-series on Netflix called "Worst Roommate Ever" that I have quickly become addicted to.

There are two seasons, each of which has 4-5 episodes. Each episode is a different mini-documentary, completely unrelated to the other episodes, about a situation where two more more people shared a living space, and it just went incredibly bad. Every story covered in every episode is 100% true.

This mini-series is creepy and disturbing as hell. All I can say is there are some pretty horrible human beings on this planet, plenty of whom are walking around freely, and plenty of whom seem perfectly fine if not very nice, at first.

Anyone who has seen the movie "Pacific Heights" with Michael Keaton, Matthew Modine, and Melanie Griffith and liked it should do themselves a favor and watch this.

If you only like inspirational stuff with happy, hollywood type endings, then I'd steer clear.

What I'd add as a final note is that, as far as documentaries go, this one is very well put together and shot, just from a technical point of view. The subject matter is disturbing, but from a technical, film-making point of view, these guys have done a great job with this.

I thoroughly recommend it.

[LennG]

Because of July 4th, the History Channel ran a 14-part docudrama on the American Revolution simply called "Revolution".
As I have said many times, I am a vacuum when it comes to documentaries et al about any of our wars. I just can't get enough of these shows and hopefully learn something I didn't already know. Anyway, this series is about as well done as any Ken Burns series. I am about 10 episodes in, (each being 1 hour) and if this is your thing, I would try and search it out and watch. It is not a new series, but I had never seen it before.

If history is your thing, this is a good watch.

[squibber]

I started "Ripley" on Netflix earlier this week. I am really enjoying it so far. A few comments:

(1) It is, as I am sure most know, based on the same novel by Patricia Highsmith that the movie "The Talented Mr. Ripley" is based on. The storyline is more or less the same in a broad sense.

(2) The characters are mostly the same people, but they are portrayed very differently than they are in the movie. The "Marge" character for example, played by Dakota Fanning, is a completely different take on the character than Gwyneth Paltrow's character. The Dickie character is also different in some ways.

(3) The show is in black and white, which for some is a negative. I don't see it that way, myself. Not only does it not bother me, but I actually think it is effective in making the 1950s time backdrop seem more authentic. I said this to my wife, and I'll say it here: if Netflix gave you the option of watching it in color or black and white, I'm not sure I'd pick the color option having now watched a few episodes in black and white.

(4) If you're someone who needs constant, face-paced, intense action, I would not recommend this show. There are some intense scenes, but it is on the slow, brooding side. It has more of a foreboding, macabre feel.

(5) The cinematography in this show is not just very good; it is exceptional. If you are someone who appreciates fine cinematography, I strongly recommend this show. I have been blown away by how good it is.

(6) Overall I am really enjoying the show. It is different from the movie, but still very good.

I agree with everything you said. It is a slow burn but it was hard to stop watching it. 95% of it was filmed in Italy so that added to the charm.

[LennG]

 No one has [posted here since July 9th, but I would assume people are watching something?

Let's see what I have been watching-------

I am a huge fan of the survival reality shows. I have always watched Survivor, Naked and Afraid and my favorite, is Alone, on the History Channel. This show has been on for about 7-8 years now and if you are into survival type shows, this is the Creme de la Creme.

Basically, they take 10 people (men and women) and all are well-trained survivalists. They put them into some remote area (this season it is the Arctic Circle), each one is somewhere different and they cannot move from their assigned area. There is no film crew working with them, not even a cameraman. They are taught to use video cameras, go-pros and everything you see is what they film on themselves.
I have watched this show from the very first year. The 10 have no idea how many are left surviving, and whoever is the last one, wins whatever prize they are offering. Usually, the winners are out there about 3 months before the last one quits. Some have to quit because they monitor them and if they are very malnutrition, they will call it quits, if they get hurt and cannot fend for themselves, they can be extracted, but the number one cause of most of the contestants to quit is loneliness and missing their families. You hear their thought process as all they have to talk to is the camera, and each year, out of the 10, I would say at least 5-6 quit because of just loneliness and missing their families.
Anyway, I simply love this show just to see how they can survive all those months in horrible conditions.

[LennG]

 I think I've said it many times, but my wife is into all these sci-fi/aliens/UFO shows. She just can't get enough of them, and there are plenty to choose from. Myse lf, I like some of them, that share things that are a bit out of the ordinary.
That said we saw a wonderful documentary the other day about Ropswell and all the commotion that started here and never really ended. Either you believe or you don't, but if you are a non-believer, this particular show might convince you otherwise.
Why, because they interviewed certain people from Roswell who were around on that day in 1947 when they had a UFO, then they claimed they didn't, when they had alive and dead aliens and then they didn't. So, for the first time, several people were sworn to secrecy by the government because if they told what really happened, they and their families were threatened with many hideous things, including death.

We found this show particularly interesting because of these interviews. When we thought we knew everything there was to know about Roswell, here comes, new, first-hand, accounts that might change anyone's mind.
 This one particular woman who was 12 years old at the time and the daughter of one of the main players in this incident, told how a 'large' man wearing a hat and sunglasses came into their house, and spoke to all, basically telling them if they ever reveal what they saw that day, forever, they would face serious hardships and basically, no one would ever find their bodies out there in the desert. Believable, you bet, and the story she then told of that day, even as a child, would make a believer out of anyone that what happened on the day in 1947 was really a UFO crash and aliens recovered, even a live one.

If you are into this type of stuff, there are lots of garbage out there, but every once in a while, you hit the jackpot with a very good and interesting show. This was one of them for us.

[Sem]

What was the name of the show?