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

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sk8pics said:
Anyway, Vulcans love so much longer than humans it’s not really shocking that there could be some half-siblings.
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Sure. But (a) she isn't a half-sister -- she was adopted and (b) he didn't have a sister in ST:TOS and there were flashbacks to his childhood that make no sense if he was raised with a human sister.
 
sk8pics said:
I am thinking that Discovery is an altered timeline, or isn’t it? Anyway, Vulcans love so much longer than humans it’s not really shocking that there could be some half-siblings.
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Sure, except they seem to be within the same broad age range. And yes, as MacMadame said, one's adopted rather than a blood relation, but point stands that there are random siblings whereas there's a strong suggestion in the original series that Spock grew up without siblings (admittedly not specifically stated). At least Strange New Worlds in its brief reference to the half-brother says that said brother was exiled or not spoken of or somesuch.

I had understood that Discovery (early eps) and Strange New Worlds were meant to be the same timeline as original series Star Trek, just earlier so they are technically prequels. But I do agree there have been a few things in Strange New Worlds that haven't quite matched original Trek, but as on the whole it's so damn good I'm prepared to let that go.
 
Bunny Hop said:
At least Strange New Worlds in its brief reference to the half-brother says that said brother was exiled or not spoken of or somesuch.
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And at the end of Discovery
They decide that no one in the crew that goes to the future is to ever be referenced again for some reason. So I guess they got wiped from history? Which is their explanation for why Spock in TOS never spoke of Michael, I guess.

It doesn't work for me but I'm not a big fan of Discovery so I'm going to pretend none of it exists and that works just fine. :lol:
 
I was hoping to watch Rings of Power but unfortunately I have to wait a little while longer yet. It will be released tonight.
 
"The Patient" on Hulu are short episodes (30 minutes or less) involving two characters...one a psychiatrist being held prisoner by a serial killer who wants to stop killing. The killer is not a sexual sadist so THANK HEAVENS this isn't about an excuse for torture porn. It is a thoughtful series though still tense because one of the characters is not free to leave. It stars Steve Carell and Domhnall Gleason.
 
Just finished episodes 1 and 2 of The Rings of Power. I am a crazy Tolkien-nerd, but I was less concerned about the casting and more concerned about how they would meddle with the story.

Cautious, but willing to continue so far.

Things I liked: the depiction of Valinor, the Two Trees, and the War of Wrath, though the timeline is wrong; Finrod, her brother, died far earlier than the War of Wrath, and the majority of the Noldor reached Middle Earth by crossing the Helcaraxe - the Grinding Ice - rather than sailing. But I guess they wanted to avoid mention of the Silmarils, as that is particularly protected by Tolkien's estate. And I oop - second episode goes straight there and shows Feanor's hammer and discusses the Silmarils, so never mind.

I have no problem with Galadriel as an action-adventure girl, she is depicted in Tolkien's works as being among the mightiest athletes of the Eldar. However, by the Second Age, she is no longer young, and should have a great deal more wisdom than she is showing here.

Elrond going off with Celebrimbor is very acceptable, as it puts Elrond in the correct place at the correct time. Celebrimbor's depiction thus far as ambitious of turning hearts and making Middle-Earth more beautiful is absolutely perfect and completely in line with the books. With that said, not over-keen on Elrond being the one to suggest the Dwarves. Celebrimbor did that on his own. Elrond would have had a cool relationship with Dwarves, given his descent from Doriath.

I loved the depiction of the Harfoots, as the hobbit ancestors.

Things I am less okay with or less sure about:

There were exactly three unions of the Eldar and the Edain, that is, Elves and Men. Two of them ended in tragedy. One we know very well (Aragorn and Arwen). You'd have thought after seeing how poorly Tauriel and Kili were received in the Hobbit movies they'd avoid going hell for leather down that path, but apparently they are, and I dislike it.

They are absolutely making the relationship between Elrond and Galadriel weird. She's his mother in law. Speaking of, we are long past the point where Celeborn should have entered the story. They are portraying Elrond and Galadriel more as age-mates instead of her being so much older than him.

The bit about taking ship. That's now how that works. THAT'S NOT HOW ANY OF THIS WORKS. THAT'S A ONE-WAY TRIP. You don't get to jump off the ship! And even the greatest of the athletes of the Eldar could not have made that swim back! They were not immune to drowning!

And it's too early for Corsairs! The Corsairs were Numenoreans who defected, and Numenor is at its height. I'm guessing the ship at the end is Numenorean.

The female dwarves should have beards. (The movies noted this.)

THAT BETTER NOT BE WHAT I THINK IT IS IN THE CASKET.

And I have absolutely no clues as to who the old man who fell from the sky is or what he is meant to be. I don't think it's Sauron, and it's too early to be Gandalf.
 
Also watched the first episodes of the rings of power. Found it mainly a bit boring, didn't appeal to me. But then, I'm neither a scifi nor a fantasy fan. These shows rarely click with me. But when they do, I enjoy the time I spend watching them.
(Peter Jackson got it right for me, and I liked GoT, or shows like Eureka or Warehouse 13)
The production value is high, the writing could be a lot better. It doesn't feel true to Tolkien's works (read most parts of Silmarillion and extended versions of LotR), better CGI wouldn't hurt or less
 
Rings of Power was solid. Definitely they are taking their time setting up all the conflicts and I feel like they spent the first two episodes checking off lists of stuff the fans wanted to see. Which, as someone whose gone as far as read several volumes of HoME, was perfectly fine but I can see the big exposition dumps being a bit of a slog.

The dwarves were the best portrayal, imo, followed by the harfoots.

As for how faithful they will be to Tolkien, I met the showrunners (and Cliff Broadway aka Quickbeam of TheOneRing.net) at an Amazon party at comic con and my impression of them was that they knew their stuff and had definitely been reading all the Histories of Middle Earth.

Some spoilery comments:

Celeborn, Cirdan, and Thranduil are coming in future seasons according to the show runners when I asked them.

They can use the appendices and other stuff on a case by case basis. Like The Silmarils is actually mentioned in the appendices in the first paragraph of the numenor section while the manner of Finrod’s death is vague because it isn’t mentioned (but you see scratch marks that hint at werewolf fight)

In regards to Bronwyn Arondir, my guess is it’s going to tie into the desire for immortality and to stop the passage of time themes that Sauron will eventually use to manipulate the creation of the ring. Judging by the fact Isildur looks to have just entered adulthood and the way Numenoreans age, we may be looking at a time lapse of 200 years. Bronwyn will, at best, die of old age if not in this season then definitely within the next two. The big internet theory is the kid becomes a Nazgul.
 
We started watching Rings of Power tonight, and I fell asleep after the first 15 minutes. ?

I think it may be soon after Wheel of Time for me to watch another fantasy series. ?
 
MacMadame said:
It doesn't work for me but I'm not a big fan of Discovery so I'm going to pretend none of it exists and that works just fine. :lol:
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I will keep watching Discovery but only for completism. I like season 2, but it's lost me since. I do kind of think of it as a completely separate part of the Star Trek universe. And I agree with your reasoning re Michael.
 
Just started watching Surface on Apple+ and I’m intrigued but fear I have seen a few shows and movies with similar storylines and know how it ends. We’ll see.
 
Is anyone watching Making the Cut? I hope so, because I MUST TYPE ANGRILY IN ALL CAPS about this show. General rant about all the seasons: for the most part, the designers rung rings around the designers on all other fashion shows. I tried to watch Stiched and just...no. It was like amateur hour. Even Project Runway, the top designers can compete, but not most. Which brings me to rant two: how are you going to assemble some of the best up-and-coming designers and have sad, narrow-minded (fashion-wise) judges? When NICOLE FREAKING RITCHIE is the voice of fashion reason, something is way off. I ask myself this season, do I really, really, really like Nicole Ritchie as a judge, or is it like being the tallest pygmy?

This segues nicely into rant three, which is specifically aimed at Heidi Klum. Heidi Klum needs to have a come-to-Chanel moment with the fact that yes, she is aging, and all the micro minis, hot bodyguards, and plastic surgery will not make her 25 again. Leonardo DiCaprio will never date her, and she needs to get over that. I feel like early-30s Heidi Klum understood that not everyone can dress sexy, or most importantly, wants to. For example, I am all in favor of girls dressing however. You want to wear that bikini, go for it. Barely there bra top at the club, knock yourself out. But I don't dress that way, and it's not because I'm in my 40s and now rather fluffy, it's because I've never dressed that way. Sparkly, cute, maybe tangential-naughty. It's not because I have body issues, it's because it's not my aesthetic. Early PR Heidi totally got that, but I feel like as she gets older, she has a much more narrow version of what fashion is, and it's all either club wear of after-party awards show. Not everybody wants or has the means to be photographed in Ibiza. And Tim Gunn is now useless. He's too far removed to be an effective mentor, and I feel like the designers on this show are beyond needing mentorships. And some of his suit patterns are questionable at best.

Rant the Fourth: Jeremy Scott. Does he bring any value to the show at all? Like, seriously. I would be happier with Isaac Mizrahi and this point. Hell, I'll take a nice turkey-disco ball from Michael Kors. And I don't want to turn this into PR II. I like the way they have it structured to where it's actually a competition about getting to run a business/global brand and all the designers actually design...but they need someone like Tommy Hillfigger (sp?) who I feel was totally the wrong judge for the final on PR this past season, but would be perfect for Making the Cut. Scott is just mean and bitter and I feel like an old stereotype of a designer, and I"ll bet he's on this show just to steal ideas. The way he talked to Yannick was beyond the pale. And Yannick just stood there stoic, because Yannick knows he's better than Scott on Scott's best day.

Which brings me to Rant E, which is on this latest episode specifically:
Hailing from south Louisiana, trust me when I say I am a festival wear expert. Festival wear in south Louisiana, especially, New Orleans and Lafayette, is no joke. It is an absolute art here. There's a way to do things. I have been to every major festival in Louisiana and most of the minor ones in southern Louisiana. I have been to Coachella. I've camped at Bonaroo. I've been to Down on the Farm. (RIP, DotF) My festival-wear cred is legit. And let me say, Heidi, Jeremy, and Nicole have clearly never been to a festival. Ever. Except for maybe five minutes when they were in the VIP section being photographed. One of their criticisms was the cape wasn't long enough on one of the designers. WHO WEARS A FULL ON DENIM CAPE TO AN OUTDOOR FESTIVAL WHICH IS EITHER DESERT OR MUD. WHO. One of the criticisms was "it isn't practical." Errr...it's a festival. Especially if you're going to Burning Man, it's supposed to get weird. One of the looks they praised the girl had a pound of theatrical make up on. Just no; it would melt off. The idea of a high end and accessible look for festival wear is :rofl: as festival wear is really neither. Another criticism is that the looks were "too crafty." Errr, again, it's a festival. Especially for a Louisiana festival, it's literally supposed to look like you've made it at home. That's a look you are specifically going for is crafty.

Now, I will say, the clothes were...not good. But neither was the assignment. First of all the judges bitched that there were too many pastels. Well...it's festival. At least no one used tie-dye. And for their inspiration, they sent them to a "dream museum" which was all...pastels. So...what did they expect? And how is a dream museum related to a festival? Then some of them did international festivals, because the judges weren't specific, and they aren't very well educated in other cultures. If you're going to have international designers who are going to design for their festivals in their hometowns, you need to know something about it. From a fashion standpoint, I agree that my favorite Sienna should have gone home, but she was designing for a festival I don't know much about and neither do the judges. Her looks could have been bang-on. The other designer who went home designed for Pride. They sent him home because his look was impractical, but to me, it was very practical. Southern Decadence is going on RIGHT NOW in NOLA and I promise you, lots of people would look right at home in his outfit. Was it fashion? Maybe not. Was it FESTIVAL? ABSOLUTELY.

I think the judges should just be honest: design something Heidi would wear to attract a man in this situation. That needs to be the directive for all challenges. The brief for this should have been: Heidi has been invited by Overpriced Water Bottle Company to hang around their VIP booth at Coachella for ten minutes and be photographed like the B-list celebrity she is.
 
sk9tingfan said:
Just started watching Partner Track on NetFlix, about an Asian woman who after 6 years at an M & A law firm in Manhattan is trying to make partner. Lots of different angles but especially focuses on politics and how male associates continuously try to outmaneuver her. I'll continue to watch.
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I am on episode two. I avoid legal shows and I don’t like Emily in Paris or Gray’s Anatomy which this show is compared to. I only watched this because it stars an Asian-American and I want to support this.

But does it get better? There are wayyyyyy too many mediocre white men on this show. And why is she only attracted to mediocre white men? She actively does not date Asian guys…I mean, what?!?
 
manhn said:
I am on episode two. I avoid legal shows and I don’t like Emily in Paris or Gray’s Anatomy which this show is compared to. I only watched this because it stars an Asian-American and I want to support this.

But does it get better? There are wayyyyyy too many mediocre white men on this show. And why is she only attracted to mediocre white men? She actively does not date Asian guys…I mean, what?!?
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I agree and the answer is no. Read the book and the outcome is better.
 
Can I say that Daemon Targaryen probably is the coolest dude to ever have graced Westeros with his presence?
Matt Smith is absolutely smashing this role. Emmy incoming next year. Mark my words!
 
I'm almost out of things I really want to watch. I've been watching Barry on HBOMax, but, meh. Watched a little of Reservoir Dogs (I think that's the name, on Hulu), meh. So now I think I'm going to rewatch Star Trek Discovery and see if it makes more sense if I watch it now. I have almost no memory of the first season, LOL.
 
Netlfix: I Came By: This is not a whodunit---we know who is doing it. The question becomes if he can be stopped and how that might be managed.

Amazon Prime: Britt-Marie Was Here This is based on a Fredrik Backman novel and his work tends to make good films and this includes this film Britt-Marie has been married to her husband for forty years, keeping their home while he works long hours until she discovers he is not faithful. Her odyssey after the discovery makes for a quiet but entertaining film.
 
@Matryeshka I'm watching Making the Cut. I think Nicole Ritchie is ok, but the male judge is awful. He's temper tantrum was beyond the pale. I think Yanik was trying not to smile, but then felt humiliated by the prick. I wish the booted contestants told him to f*ck off. Heidi just likes short and sparkly. I wish Tim Gunn had stood up for the contestants. I thought this was going to be a more mature Project Runway, but it isn't.
 
I just watched "To Be of Service" on Netflix, which is a documentary about veterans and their service dogs. Very well done, and as a veteran, I could relate to a lot of what they were saying about their difficulties getting back into the "real" world.
 
Disney+ day is tomorrow and Thor Love and Thunder as well as Pinocchio will be released.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

Disney Flexes Its Muscles in Disney+ Day Subscriber Push

Early entry to theme parks, buy two get two free cruises, exclusive merch and a deal with AMC Theatres are among the perks Disney is rolling out to promote Disney+ Day, and to underscore its strengths compared to streaming competitors.
www.hollywoodreporter.com www.hollywoodreporter.com
 
Just finished watching Untold: The Race of the Century where the Australia II ?? crew from the Royal Perth Yatch Club beat the Liberty ?? crew from the New York Yatch Club in the 1983 America’s Cup. I didn’t realize that the New York Yatch Club had previously defended the American Cup for 132 years. ?

And it all came down to the final race…….it was apparently one of the greatest sports events in Australia’s history. I hope that the Australians here at FSU are able to see it on their Netflix.

It was just awful how the New York Yatch Club treated Conner after their loss. I understand they were disappointed, but Conner did win the previous America’s Cup representing them. And the American crew did do one of the best performances ever. They just got outraced a tad bit by the Australians. I’m glad Conner got to win two more America’s Cup titles - for a San Diego club. ?

I also highly recommend watching all the other “Untold” sports documentaries on Netflix. Fascinating stuff - especially the Manti Te’o catfishing story. My God, that was insane!
 
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ilovepaydays said:
And it all came down to the final race…….it was apparently one of the greatest sports events in Australia’s history. I hope that the Australians here at FSU are able to see it on their Netflix.
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I'll pass as I remember when it happened. People lost their minds. There's a famous clip of our Prime Minster at the time saying that any employer who sacked someone for taking the day off following the win was a bum.
 
I binged The Uncanny Counter on Netflix. Counters are people who were supposed to die but agree to be inhabited by good spirits to fight evil spirits. They get special powers and get to live the rest of their lives in exchange for the danger they face in fighting evil. This group runs a noodle shop by day and fights evil the rest of the day. The evil spirits love to find bullies, serial killers and corrupt politicians.

The episodes were running together so it felt like Mung was crying and screaming in anger every episode. Once you get past those he's a much more fun character. These are easy to fast forward after a few tantrums. All in all it was good show if you like the fighting evil and magic type stuff.
 
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