Netflix/Prime/Hulu/BritBox Binge Watching: Coronavirus Edition

Status
Not open for further replies.

Maofan7

Away (Workload)
Messages
19,979
If your into history and documentaries, then check out HistoryHit.

 

Erin

Banned Member
Messages
10,472
Hulu is not officially available in Russia, so I can’t check it myself for now, but if any of you watch its “The Great” series (with Elle Fanning and Nicholas Hoult), please share your thoughts :)

As a historian and someone who have read about and seen 1001 options of the books, movies and tv series on Catherine The Great that were supposed to be a documentary ones, I am finally very excited to see a comedian take on it.

I watched the first episode and it’s fun. It’s not remotely historically accurate, but it also doesn’t pretend to be. I enjoyed it in any event and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in the period who doesn’t take things too seriously.
 

Aussie Willy

Hates both vegemite and peanut butter
Messages
27,871

Yehudi

AITA
Messages
4,935
Watched all the Belgravia episodes. It’s about two families, one an Earl and his wife and one of the merchant class, who each lost children 25 years earlier. Said children had eloped but the Earl’s son died in Waterloo and because the clergyman who married them turned out to actually be a fellow soldier, the merchant’s daughter considered the marriage invalid. She was left pregnant and died in child birth and her parents had her son adopted by a clergyman . Now the aristocratic family is left to live out their days and ponder what life will be like when everything is inherited by their obnoxious nephew while the merchant‘s surviving child is spoiled and lazy. The merchant’s wife has a chance encounter with the Earl’s wife where, out of sympathy, she reveals the existence of the grandson. The Earl’s wife tracks down the grandson, immediately takes a liking to him and decides to start publicly promoting him, which causes all sorts of gossip and angst, especially among the earl’s nephew and the merchant’s son.

Add to that the merchant has scheming servants who, unlike Carson, Mrs Hughes, and even Thomas, show know loyalty or affection for their employers, it’s less :drama: than Downton Abbey and more snarky
 

Yehudi

AITA
Messages
4,935
So if you already have access to HBO, then HBO Max is free. The big surprise for me was the Olympics content. They had a bunch of official documentaries as well as Bud Greenspan’s Documentaries. I don’t think Ive ever seen his Calgary documentary.
 
Last edited:

canbelto

Well-Known Member
Messages
8,531
I've been going through the 30 for 30 documentaries with my Disney+/ESPN+/Hulu package. Love these documentaries. Just watched Winning Time which is about Reggie Miller's rivalry with the Knicks.
 

MacMadame

Doing all the things
Messages
58,281
I wasn't sure where to ask this. We're watching The Man in the High Castle on Amazon and, while it's interesting enough.

I find it's one of those series that is shot as if no one ever turns on a light and the sun never shines though. Also, many of the male characters look alike (including 3-4 of the white young men who all seem to have the same haircut and are the same age and build. Thank god for DJ Qualls).

So I was thinking of reading the book.

My question is: how well does the book map to the series? I tried to find out and it's hard without hitting spoilers. I figured someone here would know and would be able to tell me without giving anything away. (We're about 4 episodes in. Juliana just got the job at that Japanese company.)
 

Buzz

Socialist Canada
Messages
37,308
I've been going through the 30 for 30 documentaries with my Disney+/ESPN+/Hulu package. Love these documentaries. Just watched Winning Time which is about Reggie Miller's rivalry with the Knicks.

We don’t get Hulu in Canada! :wuzrobbed
 

mjb52

Well-Known Member
Messages
5,995
I wasn't sure where to ask this. We're watching The Man in the High Castle on Amazon and, while it's interesting enough.

I find it's one of those series that is shot as if no one ever turns on a light and the sun never shines though. Also, many of the male characters look alike (including 3-4 of the white young men who all seem to have the same haircut and are the same age and build. Thank god for DJ Qualls).

So I was thinking of reading the book.

My question is: how well does the book map to the series? I tried to find out and it's hard without hitting spoilers. I figured someone here would know and would be able to tell me without giving anything away. (We're about 4 episodes in. Juliana just got the job at that Japanese company.)

I only watched season one and I don't remember it or the book very well, but from what I do remember they are pretty different. At least one major character (and possibly more) doesn't exist in the book at all, and Juliana's personality is pretty different as well. For subsequent seasons, I would imagine they were pretty much out of book at that point. It is an interesting book though, so it might be worth reading anyway.
 
D

Deleted member 1204

Guest
The Man in the High Castle
I really wanted to like this series. I love the concept. I think the biggest challenge was that each episode was written and directed by different people. I made it through season 4 (which felt like a completely different story, to be honest), and I agree- I wonder if the book was better?
 

HeatherC

Searching for Sanity
Messages
11,845
I wasn't sure where to ask this. We're watching The Man in the High Castle on Amazon and, while it's interesting enough.

I find it's one of those series that is shot as if no one ever turns on a light and the sun never shines though. Also, many of the male characters look alike (including 3-4 of the white young men who all seem to have the same haircut and are the same age and build. Thank god for DJ Qualls).

So I was thinking of reading the book.

My question is: how well does the book map to the series? I tried to find out and it's hard without hitting spoilers. I figured someone here would know and would be able to tell me without giving anything away. (We're about 4 episodes in. Juliana just got the job at that Japanese company.)

I haven't read the books but I have watched the entire series and it's my understanding that the show doesn't really follow the book very well, especially after the first season (this is just going off some articles I read at the time). I enjoyed the entire series overall but I agree that there are a LOT of scenes that are super dark. Maybe they did that intentionally to show how dark the USA was at the time? And my friends and I had trouble remembering people's names in that first season as well so we came up with nicknames for them and those ending up sticking all the way through to the end (i.e. Inspector Kido became the Lizard :lol: ). Maybe coming up with nicknames will help you guys too?

BTW-Don't get attached to ANY of the characters or ship any couples because you never know when someone will end up dead...just giving you the same advice I received before I started watching the show in S1. :yikes: :fragile:
 

clairecloutier

Well-Known Member
Messages
14,559
I watched the whole series of Man in the High Castle, and found it uneven. There were some parts that were quite brilliant, and other parts that just didn't work. I'd be interested to know which major character didn't exist in the book. Was it Joe? I always found him to be a weak character. I could never get a handle on who he really was.
 

MacMadame

Doing all the things
Messages
58,281
We just finished season 2 and I think that would be a perfect ending to the whole thing. I guess we'll find out if I'm right when we start season 3. :D
 

HeatherC

Searching for Sanity
Messages
11,845
I watched the whole series of Man in the High Castle, and found it uneven. There were some parts that were quite brilliant, and other parts that just didn't work. I'd be interested to know which major character didn't exist in the book. Was it Joe? I always found him to be a weak character. I could never get a handle on who he really was.

It definitely had some uneven moments as a series but overall, I did enjoy watching it. Some characters seemed completely useless and others were so compelling that I wanted to see more of them. And I also was never really sure about Joe because he seemed to be on the fence all the time about which side he was on and I could never figure it out. :eek:
 

mjb52

Well-Known Member
Messages
5,995
Joe was apparently such an innocuous character that I don't even exactly remember who he is lol. John Smith didn't exist in the book. I think there may be some others, but it's been awhile. You may be on the right track with Joe, as I think about it (was he the leading man type character?), but I honestly am not quite sure.
 

clairecloutier

Well-Known Member
Messages
14,559
Wow, John Smith was not in the book?? That surprises me, as he was such a central character in the show. Interesting.

Joe was, at different points: 1) one of Juliana’s love interests, 2) an American Reich operative reluctantly working for John Smith, 3) a secret, specially bred son of one of the top German Reich leaders, 4) the lover of another product of the Reich special breeding program, 5) a German Reich assassin sent to kill either Juliana or someone else in San Francisco 😄a
 

annie720

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,303
Looking forward to watching the older seasons of Midnight Diner that were just released by Netflix! We tearfully finished the final episode of Tokyo Stories last week and had no idea there would be more to look forward to. :cheer2:
 

ryanj07

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,154
I recently finished Velvet and Velvet Coleccion, both were great if you enjoy soapy Spanish dramas! I'm halfway through Morocco: Love in Times of War and it's probably in my top 3 netflix shows. My heart is already breaking knowing that there is only one season!
 

Oreo

Well-Known Member
Messages
576
I recently finished Velvet and Velvet Coleccion, both were great if you enjoy soapy Spanish dramas! I'm halfway through Morocco: Love in Times of War and it's probably in my top 3 netflix shows. My heart is already breaking knowing that there is only one season!
I loved Velvet (haven't seen Velvet Collection yet) and am just about done with Morocco: Love in Times of War. It took me awhile to realize that the character of Julia in Morocco and Barbara in Velvet were the same actress! She's also one of the leads in Grand Hotel. The production value of these Spanish series is fantastic.
 

ryanj07

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,154
I loved Velvet (haven't seen Velvet Collection yet) and am just about done with Morocco: Love in Times of War. It took me awhile to realize that the character of Julia in Morocco and Barbara in Velvet were the same actress! She's also one of the leads in Grand Hotel. The production value of these Spanish series is fantastic.

Yes, her name is Amaia Salamanca! I loved her in Gran Hotel and Velvet (she also shows up in Velvet Collection) and moved up Morocco over Cable Girls on my watch list because she was the lead! I agree about the great production value.

Velvet Collection is fun! I loved having Clara as the lead because I was kind of over Ana/Alberto by the end of Velvet. Be prepared for Clara/Mateo to go through similar relationship angst but it's much more tolerable as Clara's two potential love interests are both extremely gorgeous LOL. :swoon:
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users who are viewing this thread

Top
Do Not Sell My Personal Information