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

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mjb52

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I wanted to like I Love Dick b/c I've spent some time in the place where it was filmed but I couldn't get into it at all for some reason. They changed the scenario from the book in a way that bugged me (I've never read the book, just familiar with the general scenario) and made it feel unbelievable. But I should give it another chance because maybe if I could get past that, I could enjoy the scenery.
 

Jenny

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re I Love Dick - we tuned in because of Kathryn Hahn - she was great in Mrs Fletcher, plus always a fan of Kevin Bacon. I didn't find out it was based on anything til later, so I had no expectations. In the end it went a little OTT feminist in more than one way for my taste, and yeah parts of it seemed unreal, but then again, people do crazy things, especially when they are creatives/academics in the first place, New Yorkers suddenly in the middle of Texas fishes out of water, and land in a town full of people expressing their art.
 

gkelly

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I watched the first episode of I Love Dick a couple of years ago. I decided that I disliked all the main characters and didn't feel like spending any more time with them.
 

Jenny

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Hey it's not for everyone. It's good that there's so much available to us these days and such a wide variety of programming, especially now. Imagine if this was back in the 70s when so many of us had access to less than a dozen channels, no pvrs, no on demand, not even the chance to rent a video!
 

Aussie Willy

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Interesting article in today's NY Times about the impact of The Queen's Gambits including a 215% increase in the purchase of chess sets as well as increased streaming of chess matches

‘The Queen’s Gambit’ Sends Chess Set Sales Soaring - The New York Times (nytimes.com)

I’m a Chess Expert. Here’s What ‘The Queen’s Gambit’ Gets Right - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Thanks for the articles. I watched The Queen's Gambit over 3 days this week. Loved it. And I had been wondering about the impact on Chess as a game of late and whether that it increased sales of chess sets. I used to play and had a set when I was a kid. And also became quite good of recent times beating the game on my computer. :)
We watched The Queen's Gambit this week & loved it! So interesting, and so many great performances. Also, the music soundtrack and 50s/60s period costumes were amazing.
The set decoration, costumes and music really stood out for me as well. Anya Taylor-Joy is one of the great young actresses these days like Elle Fanning (The Great). She was really good in Emma. There have been so many good shows of recent times with fantastic female characters.
 

LeafOnTheWind

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I watched season 1 of The Great Pretender on Netflix and thought it was ok enough to watch season 2. I am enjoying season 2 so much more.

The theme song is The Great Pretender from Freddie Mercury. In one of his interviews he had indicated that the song reflected how he saw himself with his stage persona. The anime follows that theme closely.

It is about a group of con artists. The first season initially seems focused on a series of con jobs but ends up revealing the facade that a member shows to the world covering up their true self. Season 2 reveals a much bigger hidden con job.
It is tying together all of the storylines and showing more of the character's true motivations.

There are some moments where you have to pay attention to subtitles when they aren't speaking English. But most of it is in English even when they are supposed to be speaking another language.

It's a fun anime but also goes a little deeper into human emotions.
 

sk9tingfan

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Thanks for the articles. I watched The Queen's Gambit over 3 days this week. Loved it. And I had been wondering about the impact on Chess as a game of late and whether that it increased sales of chess sets. I used to play and had a set when I was a kid. And also became quite good of recent times beating the game on my computer. :)

The set decoration, costumes and music really stood out for me as well. Anya Taylor-Joy is one of the great young actresses these days like Elle Fanning (The Great). She was really good in Emma. There have been so many good shows of recent times with fantastic female characters.
And from The Washington Post today:

The Queen's Gambit depicts the 1960s without sexism - The Washington Post
 

mjb52

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I read the book The Queen's Gambit a long time ago and liked it but feel a weird resistance to watching the show. It's quite possible I've already posted this and forgotten so sorry if I'm saying this for the second time in this thread. I'm just puzzled. I am really not sure why I am hesitating.
 

acraven

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Comcast is making several premium channels available at no charge to customers who don't subscribe to them. This often happens Thanksgiving week and typically cuts off at midnight Sunday night, though if you start watching something before midnight you'll probably be able to watch the whole movie or episode.

I currently have access to the On Demand offerings of HBO, Cinemax, Starz, Epix and Acorn. No Showtime when I looked this morning, but it sometimes pops up for the last three days of the week. Access is via the "Premium Channels" button.

Customers of other cable/satellite companies might want to check to see whether they have freebies as well.
 
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I read the book The Queen's Gambit a long time ago and liked it but feel a weird resistance to watching the show. It's quite possible I've already posted this and forgotten so sorry if I'm saying this for the second time in this thread. I'm just puzzled. I am really not sure why I am hesitating.

My husband is trying to convince me to watch it, but I'm also resistant. Not sure why 🤷‍♀️
 

ЭPiKUilyam

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Just this week I've watched The Royal House of Windsor, The Last Czars, Hillbilly Elegy, and I'm almost done with Reckoning, all on Netflix. All were watchable.
 

jenny12

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Watched Hillbilly Elegy today with the family. I don’t think it’s as bad as some of the reviews have said (even though I do disagree with its politics of “poor people just need to get it together” that always lingers in the background). Some performances do come off as a bit cartoonish, however, and it would have benefited from some reigning in but there were enough authentically moving parts that made me not totally hate it.
 

smurfy

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I just binged 'Cherynobyl' on HBOMax. Amazing! I love Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgaard and they were both great.
In some ways - obvious story telling of the events, but very well done. I appreciate the details they went into for some of the things that were done.
And politically - if I had seen this pre Trump - the government handling - I would have thought - oh that is the old days - communist, and nothing like that in the US. I could totally see some of Trumps cabinet doing stuff similar.
 

MacMadame

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Just finished The Crown Season 4 and I am a bit confused. If they start Season 5 with everyone older, where does that leave the Charles & Diana story? She really isn't much older when it all plays out.
 

VGThuy

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Just finished The Crown Season 4 and I am a bit confused. If they start Season 5 with everyone older, where does that leave the Charles & Diana story? She really isn't much older when it all plays out.
They're recasting the actress with someone 6 years older. I was a confused at first with the choice but then the season 4 actress seriously does read young. I think they new actress reads a just a bit older.
 

MacMadame

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They're recasting the actress with someone 6 years older. I was a confused at first with the choice but then the season 4 actress seriously does read young. I think they new actress reads a just a bit older.
That sound workable. Will everyone else be much older like from Season 2 to Season 3?
 

Yehudi

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I’ve only seen one ep of The Saved By The Bell reboot (only doing the free version of Peacock). So far, I thought it was hilarious. Reminded me a bit of the Brady Bunch movies, with the show totally being aware of how ridiculous the original series was.

Nitpick: I don’t recall Kelly being that dumb.
 

ЭPiKUilyam

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I've also read good reviews of SBTB!!! I think I'll give it a try. I'm just glad Screetch is not in it. When he grew up he was just awful to watch as Screetch, not funny in the least. Kind of like Erkel after puberty. The shtick is over and done.
 

annie720

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I just binged 'Cherynobyl' on HBOMax. Amazing! I love Jared Harris and Stellan Skarsgaard and they were both great.
In some ways - obvious story telling of the events, but very well done. I appreciate the details they went into for some of the things that were done.
And politically - if I had seen this pre Trump - the government handling - I would have thought - oh that is the old days - communist, and nothing like that in the US. I could totally see some of Trumps cabinet doing stuff similar.
Excellent series! I recommend listening to the official podcast. There was one done for every episode and it gives a lot of interesting background information.
 

Cachoo

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Thanks for the articles. I watched The Queen's Gambit over 3 days this week. Loved it. And I had been wondering about the impact on Chess as a game of late and whether that it increased sales of chess sets. I used to play and had a set when I was a kid. And also became quite good of recent times beating the game on my computer. :)

The set decoration, costumes and music really stood out for me as well. Anya Taylor-Joy is one of the great young actresses these days like Elle Fanning (The Great). She was really good in Emma. There have been so many good shows of recent times with fantastic female characters.
Increased chess sets is good—I wondered if there would be an interest in little green pills that produce chess games on the ceiling.
 

ЭPiKUilyam

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I'm now watching Versailles. It's kind of interesting, but I'm finding it so hard to recognize all the characters because they all look alike to me!! Men and women! I think it is kind of funny, because sometimes the English spoken doesn't translate to French. Like, when Louis or whoever was seducing a woman he said something like "A little death never harmed anyone". If you don't know French it made no sense, because in French an orgasm is called "le petit mort" which translates to little death. I might have forgotten most of my French but I still remember the dirty talk! lol
 
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