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Post by WickedCrustacean on Sept 15, 2019 20:21:32 GMT -5
A companion thread to the book one.
So I finished re-watching The Sopranos on Amazon Prime, after re-watching The Wire there before. Both top notch shows. Before that, I re-watched Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy on Netflix (I've cancelled my cable plan last year, so now I watch everything on either Netflix or Amazon Prime, at $30/month combined, comes out much cheaper and better).
Started watching Deadwood, I have seen the first few episodes in mid-2000s, but it didn't really click with me that much, but now for whatever reason, I am enjoying it more. The dialogue is outstanding, gotta enjoy Swearingen's Shakespearen usage of the word "cocksucker". Also much respect for the actress who plays Calamity Jane. I love some of the little details, like when Seth Bullock and Wild Bill Hickock shoot down the guy who murdered the Minnesota family. They both draw on him after he draws, and if you just watch it, it looks like they fire together, in unison. Wild Bill even asks Bullock which one of them got him. But if you slow it down and go frame by frame, Hickock clearly fires first, while Bullock is still drawing his gun. This makes perfect sense (one of them was a famous gunslinger after all), but in many lesser shows, they wouldn't have bothered, or made Bullock faster because he is one of the main characters. I love these authentic touches.
HBO really had some magic in a bottle in early-mid 2000s. I like Game of Thrones and heard good things about some of their newer shows, but I don't think they will ever top the time they had Sopranos, The Wire, Rome, Deadwood, and Oz pretty much running side by side.
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Post by Tig on Sept 15, 2019 20:47:53 GMT -5
Yeah Deadwood was really good. I attached to it quickly because one of the writers was a Shakespeare expert and you'll notice many Shakespearean theatre nuances such as the use of soliloquy and the ranking character on stage being given proper respect. I don't like how the series was treated at the end and I haven't been able to rent the movie released last May to (finally!) wrap the series.
May I recommend Carnivàle? It only got 1 season but man what a season! Clancy Brown as a psychotic possessed minister was just haunting and oh my gosh Adrienne Barbeau dancing with a snake. *shiver*
Rome is, by far, one of my very favorite TV serials. Kevin McKidd is an incredible actor and all the characters were so well illustrated. Plus, it gave a fairly realistic view of life in Rome at the height of Gaius Julius Caesar. A wonderful time machine.
If you like Deadwood, i highly recommend Hell on Wheels from AMC. It ran 4 or 5 seasons and every episode was a work of art. Tremendous acting, great story, fun characters, even if you don't like westerns as a whole you'll find something to love here.
My current love is Altered Carbon on Netflix. Great cyberpunk in the vein of Neuromancer and Do Robots Dream of Electric Sheep. The story of society crumbling under the weight of technology is just as much a part of the show as the tale of the characters. It also has James Purefoy who played Mark Anthony in Rome.
And I've brought this up somewhere else but I can NOT get enough Rick and Morty. I have Seasons 1-3 on blu ray. I'm so happy they got picked up for Season 4 and beyond (75 episodes booked). It is by far the most cerebral cartoon on television. A wonderful clash of Simpsons meets Dr. Who.
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Post by Mako on Sept 16, 2019 11:48:33 GMT -5
I don't watch Netflix/Amazon Prime yet. Someday I will, but may not be until after I finally drop cable tv for good. Last year through earlier this year we were getting HBO on demand via some screw-up when we weren't supposed to be. I took advantage and watched the first two seasons of Deadwood, and was catching up on Game of Thrones (I own seasons 1-3 on blu ray). Then they finally fixed it and I missed out on season 3 of Deadwood and the last season of GoT. The beginning of August our cable deal ran out and so I called and negotiated a new one that added HBO, Starz, and Showtime (plus a boost in internet speed) for the same price as before. (Hey, I worked in a cable company call center for awhile years back, so know how to do it. ) Since then I've watched the last season of GoT, the Deadwood movie, and a few others. They'd already taken down season 3 of Deadwood, so still haven't seen that. I love a lot of HBO's tv shows, though until just recently we never had HBO itself. We used to rent various shows at Blockbuster. Was a huge fan of Rome as well. The Sopranos was a huge influence in my guild in SWG. I missed the end of it after they had the strike and delay. Someday I hope to just buy the whole series on blu ray and watch it through again. Hoping to watch Boardwalk Empire someday, too. Have heard good things about that. Same with The Wire. Enjoyed Hell on Wheels when that first came out, too. Missed some of it as things got bad with my dad, and when I tried watching the new stuff I just didn't enjoy it anymore. Not sure if it was because I'd missed too much, the mood I was in, or that it just had gone downhill. Similar happened with The Walking Dead. Loved that in the beginning, but lost interest as it went on. Honestly I have a hard time finding much good on tv anymore. When I do find something it tends to not last for some reason or another. I really liked The Expanse, but that only lasted two or three seasons before they switched it to Netflix. Same with The Last Kingdom. Enjoyed Sons of Anarchy, too, though again it was starting to go a bit downhill and get ridiculous at times towards the end. The new series Mayans isn't quite as good, but decent. A little bit of crossover with mostly just a different focus. The second season just started earlier this month. I missed the first couple of episodes - need to catch up on the on demand. If you like dark comedies, a good one from HBO is Barry. It's about a hitman who decides he wants to become an actor. They've just done two seasons so far and they are very short, like 8 episodes per season.
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Post by Tig on Sept 18, 2019 11:10:39 GMT -5
I don't know if any of you guys like car shows but Hyperdrive on Netflix is an outstanding sleeper series. It's basically American Ninja Warrior with cars. The producers bought a retired factory property and made an insane car obstacle course. The obstacles are heavy on drift skill but, surprisingly, there are a lot if American muscle cars in the mix. Not so surprisingly, the girls on this show kick huge amounts of ass. Beautiful cars, mind-blowing driving, interesting characters, even if cars aren't your thing, you'll find this entertaining.
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Post by WickedCrustacean on Sept 21, 2019 18:08:45 GMT -5
Getting further into Deadwood, just had to post this. One of the funniest scenes in television ever. I was just dying.
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Post by Mako on Sept 21, 2019 18:31:07 GMT -5
Yeah, that episode was great!
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Post by Tig on Nov 11, 2019 1:42:07 GMT -5
Stephen King movies have been on a roll lately It Chapter 2 was really good and we just saw Dr. Sleep this weekend. Both were more intriguing spooky story than actually scary. I think I'm going to read It next.
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Post by Taibi on Nov 11, 2019 2:39:06 GMT -5
We decided last week to have a weekly movies night and similar series night. Sunday we kicked off with Silver Linings Playbook and an episode of Silicon Valley. Yeah, we cheated and had both.
On Thursday we will pick up Game of Thrones again. Think we are at the begining of season 3.
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Post by WickedCrustacean on Nov 11, 2019 13:23:34 GMT -5
I am still finishing up Deadwood (on season 3 now). Rewatched Rome, Sopranos and The Wire before that, and Breaking Bad and Sons of Anarchy before that.
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Post by Taibi on Nov 11, 2019 13:39:03 GMT -5
I have a list of about 30 series I want to watch over on IMDB.
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Post by Tig on Nov 12, 2019 14:40:56 GMT -5
Rick and Morty season 4 just started and the world is right again.
This is from the best episode of last season:
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Post by WickedCrustacean on Nov 15, 2019 10:18:47 GMT -5
Damn, that fight between Dan and the Captain (Sea creature) in Deadwood was hardcore.
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Post by Tig on Nov 18, 2019 16:40:02 GMT -5
The Expanse season 4 starts next month. If I recall correctly, the first two seasons were on SyFy then it got picked up for Amazon Prime. I think some of you may have read the books. I love this show. It's deep, thought provoking, and lots of fun with some great characters. Give it a shot.
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Post by Mako on Nov 18, 2019 20:36:04 GMT -5
The Expanse season 4 starts next month. If I recall correctly, the first two seasons were on SyFy then it got picked up for Amazon Prime. I think some of you may have read the books. I love this show. It's deep, thought provoking, and lots of fun with some great characters. Give it a shot. Yes, I watched what was on SyFy, but haven't seen it since it was taken off and picked up by Amazon Prime. Also have read the first book. Awesome series! Will definitely be catching up at some point when I am able to.
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Post by WickedCrustacean on Nov 28, 2019 13:07:05 GMT -5
Ok, finally finished Deadwood. The ending was really disappointing, although very realistic. That ahole Hearst just got away.
Now I need to find a new show to watch.
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