What are we watching these days?

[LennG]

 I haven't watched the new season yet, but I felt that Season 3 was a step back. In the beginning, the show was sort of light and had a really interesting take. I felt in Season 3, it really started to take a much 'darker' approach to our so-called 'heroes'. I did enjoy it, but I really felt it was going in a completely different direction from what Season 1 and Season 2 took us.
As I said, I haven't gotten to Season 4 yet, so it could all work out fine. 

[jimv]

I really don't watch series.  I watch movies instead.  I just watched "Lost City" with Sandra Bullock.  But I was very disappointed in it.  The makers just didn't seem to decide if it was to be a comedy/adventure or a straight adventure.  To me, it made it all screwed up.

[LennG]

I really don't watch series.  I watch movies instead.  I just watched "Lost City" with Sandra Bullock.  But I was very disappointed in it.  The makers just didn't seem to decide if it was to be a comedy/adventure or a straight adventure.  To me, it made it all screwed up.

Jim

If you like Sandra Bullock, try the movie I recommended the other day "Unforgivable'. She is way out of character in this, but she was great in it.

[LennG]

Last night me and the missus decided to try a new series (for us) "Night Sky" on Prime. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13361448/
Several people told me they have enjoyed it, so we decided to give it a shot. We are thru episode 3 and we like it a lot. Quickly, an elderly couple, Sissy Spacek and J.K. Simmons ( truly one of my favorite actors now, really getting a chance to star), have a deep secret in their old house, a sort of portal to another world.
Suddenly a visitor appears in their secret place and it does get more interesting. Maybe it is the relationship between Spacek and Rollins playing a very old married couple, that we associate with very much, but we love the interaction between the two of them. Can't wait to continue it.

 Now for the bad. My wife went up to take a nap so I thought I would try another fairly new series on Netflix, "Keep Breathing"       https://www.netflix.com/title/81276119
A brand new series (6 episodes and each is about 30-35 minutes long) so I watched the entire series this afternoon.
It is the story of a lady who hitches a ride in a small plane and it crashes in an out-of-the-way place in Alaska. She survives and has to survive and try and make her way to get rescued. Sounds simple enough, except they decide to also show her life story, from little girl to adult, and her relationship with her mother, father, and boyfriend. To me, they spent way too much time in her prior life, trying to show what made her, her in the present. I LOVE these make your way to freedom tales and thought I would like this, and if they would have concentrated on her and how she managed to survive and get out, then IMVHO it would have been a much better story. Instead, they opted for this psychoanalysis of her entire life, her troubled relationship with her father, mother, and boyfriend/co-worker to the point I had to fast forward it thru the final two episodes.
Now others may well like this interjection in a survival story, but I didn't. Thumbs down for me. Lucky I only wasted a couple of good hours on it.

[ozzie]

Thanks for the tip on "Night Sky", sounds interesting. I'll put it in my queue.

[LennG]

Thanks for the tip on "Night Sky", sounds interesting. I'll put it in my queue.

We are 5 episodes in (out of 8) and it is still very interesting. As I said, the rapport between Spacek and Rollins is a thing of beauty to watch. Two 'older' actors, whose best days are behind them, get some really great roles and scripts and you truly believe they are who they are portraying and have been married for 50+ years.

[DaveBrown74]

Last night me and the missus decided to try a new series (for us) "Night Sky" on Prime. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13361448/
Several people told me they have enjoyed it, so we decided to give it a shot. We are thru episode 3 and we like it a lot. Quickly, an elderly couple, Sissy Spacek and J.K. Simmons ( truly one of my favorite actors now, really getting a chance to star), have a deep secret in their old house, a sort of portal to another world.
Suddenly a visitor appears in their secret place and it does get more interesting. Maybe it is the relationship between Spacek and Rollins playing a very old married couple, that we associate with very much, but we love the interaction between the two of them. Can't wait to continue it.

 Now for the bad. My wife went up to take a nap so I thought I would try another fairly new series on Netflix, "Keep Breathing"       https://www.netflix.com/title/81276119
A brand new series (6 episodes and each is about 30-35 minutes long) so I watched the entire series this afternoon.
It is the story of a lady who hitches a ride in a small plane and it crashes in an out-of-the-way place in Alaska. She survives and has to survive and try and make her way to get rescued. Sounds simple enough, except they decide to also show her life story, from little girl to adult, and her relationship with her mother, father, and boyfriend. To me, they spent way too much time in her prior life, trying to show what made her, her in the present. I LOVE these make your way to freedom tales and thought I would like this, and if they would have concentrated on her and how she managed to survive and get out, then IMVHO it would have been a much better story. Instead, they opted for this psychoanalysis of her entire life, her troubled relationship with her father, mother, and boyfriend/co-worker to the point I had to fast forward it thru the final two episodes.
Now others may well like this interjection in a survival story, but I didn't. Thumbs down for me. Lucky I only wasted a couple of good hours on it.

Lenn,

I also started "Keep Breathing" and had the same reaction you did. Like you, I was interested in the premise, but ultimately I thought it was trash.

Thanks for the heads-up on Night Sky. That sounds good.

[LennG]

Dave

 it WAS a great premise, but too bad, they really screwed with it too much and yes, trash is a good word for it.

As I said I would, I have started watching 'The Old Man'. I have only seen the first episode, but that is enough to make me want to see a lot more. I'm sure I will enjoy the series.

[DaveBrown74]

Dave

 it WAS a great premise, but too bad, they really screwed with it too much and yes, trash is a good word for it.

As I said I would, I have started watching 'The Old Man'. I have only seen the first episode, but that is enough to make me want to see a lot more. I'm sure I will enjoy the series.

Lenn,

My wife and I enjoyed The Old Man. I had a couple of minor gripes, but overall that show was no less than a B+ for me. When you're done, I'll let you know what my more detailed thoughts were, and I'll be interested to hear yours.

[ozzie]

I started watching "The Old Man" and enjoyed the first 2 or 3 episodes, but then it kind of lost me with too many flashbacks and things started to get confusing and somewhat boring for me, so I just let it go.
Great cast with Bridges and Lithgow, but just not the show for me.

[DaveBrown74]

I started watching "The Old Man" and enjoyed the first 2 or 3 episodes, but then it kind of lost me with too many flashbacks and things started to get confusing and somewhat boring for me, so I just let it go.
Great cast with Bridges and Lithgow, but just not the show for me.

Ozzie,

Very fair criticism. I don't want to ruin anything for Lenn, so I won't comment too much, except to say that I agree about the flashbacks. That became a little excessive. I have found that this has become a very common technique in shows and movies these days, and I think it has gotten to a point where it is a little bit overdone.

[Slugsy-Narrows]

If anyone wants to watch anything on Paramount+ use promo code: Nachos for a free month.


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[LennG]

We just finished Night Sky last night and, you know, we were a bit disappointed. I've raved about the show and thru the first 6 (of 8) episodes we were enthralled with it, but then, what happens to so many series, it starts with more and more subplots and loses some of the attraction (at least for us) that we saw in it.

Now I'm not saying it wasn't good, it was, but the last two episodes, for us, just were plain silly in what they presented. I'm not going to give anything away, so anyone who wants to watch it, should, but it does set up another season (if there is to be one) and we were very unhappy with the way this one ended.

We compared it to Manifest in a way, where it had such a great premiss to start, and little by little it started into more and more ridiculous subplots that completely turned me off on this show. I hope, if Night Sky gets a second season, they will concentrate on what was really good about the show (the 2 wonderful lead actors) and less about al the silly subplots.

[LennG]

 I (myself) am watching this docu-drama on the History Channel--'The Colosseum".

Like westerns and war movies and series, I am a sucker for the old Roman Legions, Gladiators et al, so this docu-drama fits right in. It is supposed to be the story of the Colosseum in Rome and how and why it was so fascinating. The use of Gladiators, Christians being fed to the lions, how the Colosseum really came to be, and how it and the Emporers used it to their benefit. I LOVE this stuff.
As I said it is a sort of documentary, but enough fill in with fighting and Romans to make it pretty interesting.

It isn't Ken Burns, but it this is your thing, I would recommend it.

[Jolly Blue Giant]

We just finished Night Sky last night and, you know, we were a bit disappointed. I've raved about the show and thru the first 6 (of 8) episodes we were enthralled with it, but then, what happens to so many series, it starts with more and more subplots and loses some of the attraction (at least for us) that we saw in it.

Now I'm not saying it wasn't good, it was, but the last two episodes, for us, just were plain silly in what they presented. I'm not going to give anything away, so anyone who wants to watch it, should, but it does set up another season (if there is to be one) and we were very unhappy with the way this one ended.

We compared it to Manifest in a way, where it had such a great premiss to start, and little by little it started into more and more ridiculous subplots that completely turned me off on this show. I hope, if Night Sky gets a second season, they will concentrate on what was really good about the show (the 2 wonderful lead actors) and less about al the silly subplots.

Seems a lot of shows start out with a great premise with a great plot, but then just sort of lose their edge. Greatest example (IMHO) is the original "Twin Peaks" television series. Unbelievably addicting. But then they solved the murder and tried to keep the series going by following a rabbit down the hole and it wasn't worth watching anymore. It happened with "LOST", another incredible series that admitted they didn't want to do what Twin Peaks did and give away the mystery too early or there is no more show. LOST ended up getting so convoluted with new twists that after the 3rd and 4th season we "lost" interest in LOST. But man...a killer show for the first few seasons

I loved the television series "Blacklist" and was severely addicted, but in season 8, they killed off one of the main stars of the show and it was never the same. Never a huge fan of James Spader where he played the "angry ice cream server" on Seinfeld and George Costanza decoded to make him apologize to him as one of his last steps in rehab...as well as a few other lesser known roles, but man o man...he absolutely nails his role as "Red" (Reddington) on Blacklist. It's up to it's 10th season, but I quit after a certain death in the 8th season so I don't know if it's still addicting

Spader is damn scary. Reminds me of the old time gangsters in the old movies of the 40's and 50's

A couple of scenes - the first where he kills the FBI Director then plays music reminiscent of something Tarantino would do in his movies

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_v-SNK_cWw

Just a handful of his kills

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w0dK_AwwaPQ

Some writers have a gift to keep coming up with new stuff to keep a series alive...usually in sitcoms like "Two and a Half Men", "Seinfeld", "Everybody Loves Raymond", etc. Not many shows built around a mystery can sustain suspense week after week; however, after binging 5 seasons of "Better Call Saul" and currently on my third season of "Breaking Bad"...it can be done. As a caveat, I am dying to read the thread on season 6 of "Better Call Saul", but refuse to until I finish Breaking Bad and watching BCS immediately afterwards