What are you watching?

BritishBean

I was going to post about a TV show I’m enjoying but having seen the updates in the ‘What are you watching’ thread I thought it would be a good idea to have one for films and TV.

I’m really enjoying:

Ted Lasso: I heard about this on a podcast. One of the creators is Bill Lawrence who was responsible for Scrubs, so it caught my interest. It’s a comedy about a relatively unknown NFL coach who is brought in to manage a struggling premiership football club. The coach is played by Jason Sudeikis and there’s a few really good characters in there.

Long Way Up: Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman are back for a third trip some 16 years after the first. This time they’re covering the americas from south to north and there’s an eco spin on it - electric bikes and support vehicles. Problem is a lot of the route doesn’t have the infrastructure!

EDIT: sorry I should have said these are both available on Apple TV+ only currently.

Alex

I had thought about making a thread like this myself. Over lockdown I’ve watched quite a lot of TV shows.

Inside No 9 [iPlayer/Netflix] - Fantastic anthology horror/comedy show from two of the League of Gentlemen. Each episode has a different premise, is set in one room, involves a cast of characters coming and going, and ends on an enormous twist. Even once you know the format you can still never spot the twist coming. Some of the episodes are just absolutely mental. Loved it.
Ozark [Netflix] - Very good crime drama about an accountant forced to launder money for a Mexican drug cartel. Has a big Breaking Bad vibe. Worth watching alone for the extraordinary performance of Julia Garner who steals every scene.
What We Do in the Shadows [iPlayer/Netflix] - Very funny mockumentary in the style of The Office, except it follows a group of halfwit vampires around Staten Island. Based on a movie that I’ve not gotten around to watching. Fantastic cast of British actors. Genuinely hilarious.
The Mandalorian [Display+] - Took the trial to watch it. It’s good and sets up its premise beautifully, but then sadly falls into a bit of a disappointing “monster of the week” format. Baby Yoda is adorable and I’ll definitely checkout season 2 at some point.
Dark [Netflix] - OK, I almost gave this a whole discussion to itself when I saw it. Absolutely mind bendingly brilliant German sci-fi show. A little boy goes missing in a small German town. What starts out as a sort of German Stranger Things goes in a completely different direction. Honestly, the less you know the better. It’s absolutely incredible and will completely melt your brain. Also, make sure you put it on the original German audio with English subtitles. I highly recommend this one.
Devs [iPlayer] - Finally got around to watching this, a brilliant companion piece to Garland’s Ex_Machina. Really interesting premise that kept me hooked to the end. It plays around with a lot of the same ideas as Dark, with both shows essentially being about determinism.
Des [ITV+] - Just watched this the other night. David Tennant plays real life serial killer Dennis Nilsen, who murdered a series of men in the late seventies and early eighties. It’s not gory and does not feature the murders at all, but instead starts after Nilsens arrest and follows the aftermath. Tennant plays Nilsen with a weird matter of fact detachment which is absolutely chilling. It helps that Tennant looks uncannily like the killer! One of his best ever roles.

I know I watched lots and lots of other stuff, but I can’t remember them all right now!

MadAndy

Devs: Very Good. Reallly enjoyed it.
Seinfeld: Good, but not as good as it is made out to be.
Hill Street Blues: Tots Amazeballs.
Lots Of Scanianavian Dramas: They are starting to wear a bit thin now :-)
Inside #9 - I loved them. esp the ‘live’ episode
League Of Gentlemen: How thats not be banned I dont know, but not because of Papa Lazerou - he’s not in much. More them being completely gross :-) - Series 3 was really good.

(and for the shame of it I’m working my way througth the ‘box set’ of Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

Alex

MadAndy Buffy is the greatest TV show ever. It’s a bit dated now of course, especially some of the early ones, but the brilliant bits are still just as brilliant as they ever were. It’s been seventeen years!!!! since Buffy left our screens. 😢

Gammerz

Devs.
Fort Salem - cringeworthy in many places but sometimes interesting - it’s scifi, so had to watch it out of curiosity. Not as good as The Magicians.
Pacific Rim 2: Mechs. Massive ones.
Will start watching Arrow soon (though find sister series The Flash, Supergirl etc a bit soppy).
The Strain (series 1 & 2): quite good. Vampire/Zombie apocalypse.

Gordon

Gammerz A vampire AND zombie apocalypse? That’s just bad luck.

BritishBean

The Good Place (Netflix): I really enjoyed this and it doesn’t really outstay its welcome with only 4 seasons of 12/13 episodes. Essentially Eleanor dies and ends up in the ‘good place’ (a version of heaven), the only problem is, Eleanor doesn’t belong there.

David Attenborough - A Life on Our Planet (Netflix): I fancied some easy viewing 4K HDR goodness but quickly realised this one isn’t easy viewing. Attenborough recounts his trips over the years and how our planet is suffering due to our unquenchable thirst for everything. It isn’t doing anything new in particular but it’s a set of well delivered hard truths straight from his mouth and I agree with everything he has said so far.

Finished Ted Lasso which was enjoyable to the end. Looking forward to S2.

BritishBean

Watching a couple of sky documentaries at the moment:

Console Wars - mostly about the Nintendo and Sega rivalry with key personnel from both sides sharing their stories. Interesting watch.

Tiger Woods: Back - not necessarily telling you anything new if you’re a Tiger fan but interesting to see him succeed again after so long.

Jogort

Currently The Alienist on Netflix, mostly through season 1 and while I think the show is decent I really can’t get along with the main character. Whether it’s the actor or the way he’s playing him I just find the way he speaks bloody annoying 🤣🤣

Gammerz

Just finished season 2 of Arrow.

GassyHaggis

Tiger King for me on Netflix. Just finished it and I am astounded.

People say it was hard to tear yourself away and I don’t usually follow the crowd when it comes to things like this (hence why it took me so long to watch it) but yes, it was so bad and utterly mystifying that I had to keep watching and it got worse and worse and worse. I can’t decide if it was good or not yet I’m still thinking about it. 😂

Jogort

GassyHaggis
Seen lots of talk about this without actually figuring out what it was about and thought I’d totally avoid it since it was all over Facebook etc. Might have to give it a go.

Alex

I finished The Haunting of Bly Manor on Netflix the other day. I really enjoyed it. It’s the follow up to The Haunting of Hill House from a couple of years ago. While that was an adaptation of a famous Shirly Jackson novel, this is I think an original story. I’d recommend Hill House first if you’ve not seen it.

If you go in looking for pure horror and jump scares, then you’ll be disappointed. However, if you want a fascinating psychological ghost story, then this is really good. It’s cheesy in places and takes a few episodes to really get going, but when it all starts coming together it becomes compulsive viewing. In particular the episode The Altar of the Dead is one of the best hours of TV I’ve seen all year.

Good spooky viewing as the nights get longer.

DrDamn

Ghosts on iPlayer is really good. Lots of the same core cast of Horrible Histories. Very funny. Two series available.

DrDamn

^ also it’s not targeted as a kids show as such like Horrible Histories (though those can thoroughly be enjoyed as adults too) - some of the themes are more adult, so good for older kids (10+) and adults.

Gammerz

Just watched sci-fi film Life. Very good and pleasantly surprised. Tense throughout.

BritishBean

Gammerz ah yes saw that a while back. I think there was supposed to be a sequel.

BritishBean

On the Road - ITV4 Thursday 8pm. The start of a new series featuring Tiff Needell who was recently declared surplus to requirements by Fifth Gear. No idea if it’s any good but willing to find out. Something tells me it’s a more old school motoring tv show format compared to The Grand Tour and New Top Gear.

Alex

Like many people totally recommend The Queen’s Gambit on Netflix. Just finished it there and absolutely loved it.

MadAndy

Going through the box set of Malcolm in the middle on c4. It’s crass, puerile but soo much fun.