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

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The Witches was kinda meh. While the acting was good, including Anne Hathaway, I felt it was missing the creepiness of the book and the previous movie. The little girl getting stuck in her father’s painting disturbed me to this day, while the girl turning into a chicken was more triggering than scary (mainly due to the prior scene of the witch giving her candy - there’s clearly a lot of subtext in that).
 
sk8pics said:
I just activated a free trial on Netflix specifically to watch My Octopus Teacher. What a wonderful film.
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I just watched this last night- what an incredible movie! Can you imagine what went into making a film like this? And how he managed to get so much footage on camera? Just brilliant... (And I dreamed about octopus last night.)
 
I’ve been watching Emily in Paris On Netflix this weekend, through episode five. A friend of mine highly recommended it, but I’m only finding it OK. It’s at least easy to watch and light, the scenery is great, there are occasional opportunities for me to practice French, and Lily Collins manages to make Emily appealing. As written, I personally find Emily pretty awful...basically your stereotypical myopic American, but I still find myself rooting for her, which I attribute to Collins. Pretty much every character is a walking stereotype, and I can see why French critics are panning it, given how the French are portrayed. It’s also kind of annoying that Emily is a magical genius that can solve every problem that comes her way.

Anyway, I’ll probably finish out the season, as it’s short and not a huge commitment. I don’t really care if it gets renewed though.
 
I watched Queen's Gambit on Netflix because it was trending and it turned out to be a lot more interesting than it originally sounded. I'm no chess expert but it felt like some chess nut out there is really excited about the authentic gameplay. :lol: Chess is a huge part of the story but it's more about Beth Harmon's character development.

Overall I would say it's worth watching. It's 7 episodes and I was able to get through it in a day.

Great casting, great wardrobe, music. Very well done.
 
Kruss said:
Just finished binging The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix. Good until the last episode...I am not sure that I enjoyed how it resolved. Sorta meh on it.
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I saw your post when I was two episodes in and I quickly looked away so I wouldn't see any spoilers. I should have read your whole post! :wuzrobbed I don't even like the genre but I thought my partner was suggesting a movie and when episode 1’s credits rolled, I thought, “why not see what happens?”

Here's why!

Minor nitpick that left a terrible final impression: The “Without a Trace”-style ending was cheesy enough on the TV show and just emphasized how lame and unnecessary this series’s final plot “twist” was. The narration was too on-the-nose throughout and twist didn't fix that flaw for me. (I wondered if some executive had dictated the narrator's script because he/she didn't understand what was going on.)

Bigger nitpick: Why didn't the supernatural elements have internal consistency? The ex-fiancé wasn't connected to the manor, so why was he included? Why could the father's ghost leave his death site? Why not the mother’s? Unless I blinked and missed it, they also didn't bother to explain how the au pair was able to return to any consciousness after saying the special phrase. Hadn't it just been established that saying those words invited the ghost in permanently? And: Why could any amount of the big bad stay in the au pair after she left the property when ghosts previously left hosts’ bodies at the gate?

If I mush the consistencies into one answer — there was something special about the au pair that drew spirits to her in a different way than the others — the plot still doesn't have internal consistency since the ex and the big bad manifested themselves in different ways. Oh, and the father wouldn't have been able to haunt his brother.

I had a temporary theory that the ghosts were metaphors for PTSD, but episode 8 pretty much shot that theory down.
 
I watched Enola Holmes this weekend. It is cute and Millie Bobby Brown is unbelievably charming (even if I expected her to slip in the Upside Down any minute). It's not deep and plenty of connections between scenes make no sense - wish this wouold have been like a 5-episode miniseries or something like that - but very fun.
 
Erin said:
I’ve been watching Emily in Paris On Netflix this weekend, through episode five. A friend of mine highly recommended it, but I’m only finding it OK. It’s at least easy to watch and light, the scenery is great, there are occasional opportunities for me to practice French, and Lily Collins manages to make Emily appealing. As written, I personally find Emily pretty awful...basically your stereotypical myopic American, but I still find myself rooting for her, which I attribute to Collins. Pretty much every character is a walking stereotype, and I can see why French critics are panning it, given how the French are portrayed. It’s also kind of annoying that Emily is a magical genius that can solve every problem that comes her way.

Anyway, I’ll probably finish out the season, as it’s short and not a huge commitment. I don’t really care if it gets renewed though.
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I watched it too and liked it for the bubblegum eye candy it was. Some of the scenes were hilarious also.

I’m now watching The Hook-up Plan which is a true Parisian risqué rom-com in French with English subtitles.

It is about a group of friends in their 30s but revolves around the life of Elsa who is finding it hard to get over her ex boyfriend.

It is SO good and the main character is an excellent actress.

You just want to root for her all the time.
 
I watched the new Borat on the weekend. It was surprisingly uplifting? If you liked or could appreciate other Sacha Baron Cohen projects, you'll probably like/appreciate it. I don't particularly like his stuff, but I can see the genius in what he does. I will say that the actress that plays Borat's daughter absolutely held her own with Cohen which I imagine is not easy.
 
TygerLily said:
I saw your post when I was two episodes in and I quickly looked away so I wouldn't see any spoilers. I should have read your whole post! :wuzrobbed I don't even like the genre but I thought my partner was suggesting a movie and when episode 1’s credits rolled, I thought, “why not see what happens?”

Here's why!

Minor nitpick that left a terrible final impression: The “Without a Trace”-style ending was cheesy enough on the TV show and just emphasized how lame and unnecessary this series’s final plot “twist” was. The narration was too on-the-nose throughout and twist didn't fix that flaw for me. (I wondered if some executive had dictated the narrator's script because he/she didn't understand what was going on.)

Bigger nitpick: Why didn't the supernatural elements have internal consistency? The ex-fiancé wasn't connected to the manor, so why was he included? Why could the father's ghost leave his death site? Why not the mother’s? Unless I blinked and missed it, they also didn't bother to explain how the au pair was able to return to any consciousness after saying the special phrase. Hadn't it just been established that saying those words invited the ghost in permanently? And: Why could any amount of the big bad stay in the au pair after she left the property when ghosts previously left hosts’ bodies at the gate?

If I mush the consistencies into one answer — there was something special about the au pair that drew spirits to her in a different way than the others — the plot still doesn't have internal consistency since the ex and the big bad manifested themselves in different ways. Oh, and the father wouldn't have been able to haunt his brother.

I had a temporary theory that the ghosts were metaphors for PTSD, but episode 8 pretty much shot that theory down.
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There are some explanation videos on YouTube that theorize explanations of the ending, and the whole series. I'm still not terribly impressed enough to watch this a second time. I think that the writers/producers/director did a much better job with The Haunting of Hill House. Much, much better series. Scarier than this one, but it was a lot better, so I recommend that.

As for some of your questions (well, one really)...

I think that Dani actually broke Viola's spell over others, so that's how she was able to go on with her life as partly herself, even though Viola was in there as well. But Dani took over and virtually ended Viola's spell, and returned to the lake to prevent others from dying. Viola could no longer sleep/wake/walk (ad nauseum) as long as Dani returned to the lake and stopped the cycle of killing whomever got in her way. That's how one of the videos explained it. I, for one, couldn't figure it out. And I really wanted a better ending - more tied up nicely for some reason - but I am not a huge fan of the genre either, so I suppose it's not supposed to be tied up into a pretty bow like I wanted. LOL!
 
made_in_canada said:
I watched the new Borat on the weekend. It was surprisingly uplifting? If you liked or could appreciate other Sacha Baron Cohen projects, you'll probably like/appreciate it. I don't particularly like his stuff, but I can see the genius in what he does. I will say that the actress that plays Borat's daughter absolutely held her own with Cohen which I imagine is not easy.
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I recently watch the Trial of the Chicago 7 which has Cohen as Abbie Hoffman. Although it seemed as if he was playing himself, he is a good actor.
 
skategal said:
I’m now watching The Hook-up Plan which is a true Parisian risqué rom-com in French with English subtitles.

It is about a group of friends in their 30s but revolves around the life of Elsa who is finding it hard to get over her ex boyfriend.

It is SO good and the main character is an excellent actress.

You just want to root for her all the time.
Click to expand...

I'll have to check that one out - it sounds more fun than Emily in Paris.

Aussie Willy said:
I recently watch the Trial of the Chicago 7 which has Cohen as Abbie Hoffman. Although it seemed as if he was playing himself, he is a good actor.
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I agree - I thought he did well in the role. I also watched Borat 2 this past weekend and thought it had more hits than misses and laughed a lot. I'm tempted to re-watch the first one as I haven't seen it since it came out.
 
clairecloutier said:
We've been watching Ramy, which is about a twentysomething Arabic Muslim-American guy in New Jersey trying to find himself and figure out what he wants to do in life. It's a dramedy, and the first season was more on the humorous side. The second season is a little more intense but still with some pretty funny moments. Good acting and writing. I've been enjoying it.
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Yes, while season 2 is far more heavy, I really appreciated the episodes dedicated to the family members (I really liked mom Hiam Abbass studying for her citizenship while still fulfilling her Uber duties)
 
Just finished watching The Holidate

it is so funny and I didn’t expect it to be. I was expecting it to be like a Hallmark Christmas movie but nope....way more raunchy and hilarious.

We both really liked it.
 
mpal2 said:
I watched Queen's Gambit on Netflix because it was trending and it turned out to be a lot more interesting than it originally sounded. I'm no chess expert but it felt like some chess nut out there is really excited about the authentic gameplay. :lol: Chess is a huge part of the story but it's more about Beth Harmon's character development.

Overall I would say it's worth watching. It's 7 episodes and I was able to get through it in a day.

Great casting, great wardrobe, music. Very well done.
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I am loving this. I have watched 3 episodes so far and it's so good!
 
Finished The Queen's Gambit today.
The 1st episode felt a bit too long, but other than that I totally loved it!

Honorable mention: thank you to the authors for avoiding all the stereotypes about bad Soviet guys and Soviet Union in general (well, the flight attendant's hat aside :lol: )
 
Ka3sha said:
Finished The Queen's Gambit today.
The 1st episode felt a bit too long, but other than that I totally loved it!
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I felt that way too. I watched the 2nd episode ro give it a chance and it turned out to be worth it.


I just finished White Bird in a Blizzard on Amazon and thought it was mostly boring. Even their twist at the end felt anticlimactic. They were too worried about giving anything away so it just felt forced and unreal. It had a fairly high IMDB rating but I would have it a lot lower.
 
PML

Someone thought it would be a good idea to turn Dirty Dancing into a tv series. You can see season 1 on Amazon Prime if the really bad rating doesn't scare you away. :lol:
 
Yikes I need something to watch to avoid election stress! I finished queens gambit, that was so good. Any recommendations? I like somewhat serious dramas or historical dramas, no horror or a lot of violence. I wish the new season of the crown was available! Thanks in advance for any thoughts.
 
Season 3 of Killing Eve is on Hulu. I know what I will be binging.

ETA: I was rushing around cooking and cleaning so I put on Netflix's Midnight at the Magnolia for background noise. It was trending and looked like something I could half watch and still know what was going on. Gag.....what a treacly little drama romance piece of garbage. I didn't bother finishing it. Who wants to bet they get together in the end?

I definitely need my binge of Killing Eve now. Nothing will wash away sappy romance like a psychopath. :cheer2:
 
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I've been checking out all the old crime dramas I missed over the years. Just started Numb3rs (about halfway through the first season of six), but I recommend it. Very entertaining. It's on Hulu, FYI.
 
vgerdes said:
I've been checking out all the old crime dramas I missed over the years. Just started Numb3rs (about halfway through the first season of six), but I recommend it. Very entertaining. It's on Hulu, FYI.
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I love that show. I binged watched it a few years ago. I did think the FBI agents were unrealistically liberal but it was still fun.
 
I've been watching Star Trek: Voyager from the beginning while doing other things in the evenings - I've seen the whole series before, so it's sort of as background noise.

Started watching Riverdale last weekend. I know I've seen a few episodes during a flight somewhere, thought it was the beginning of the season but it must have been from a future season. I like turning the Betty vs Veronica frenemy trope on its head and making Cheryl the jerk, although I have no idea if that will last. Sad to see Luke Perry :( The actor who plays Archie really does look like he could be Perry's son!

Also - the actor who plays Betty looks distractingly like Brittany Murphy's little sister.
 
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