Discuss and Rate the Last Thing You Watched (non-movies)

[gorfias]

I finally watched the infamous episode 3 of The Acolyte.

Yeah, it was a pretty damn boring ep. But yet again, it's quite clear all the outrage is coming from chuds furious about the lesbian witches.

Episode 4 is a gigantic cock block. If anyone is bothering to watch this show anymore, maybe just wait for episode 5.

I hear episode 4 is basically a walking simulator and incredibly boring on top of any other objections you might have for the show. Funniest meme I've seen so far as an old man that remembers what it was like to be a teen: leave it to Disney to make a show so dull that teenage boys show no interest in space lesbians.

 

[Phoenixmgs]

Sugar - Season 1 - 5/10

The show is about Sugar (Colin Farrell) investigating a missing granddaughter of a famous movie producer. I really dug the show for awhile but the last couple episodes the show takes a massive hard right turn and completely changes what the show is about completely unexpectedly. The show is very old-school detective / noir show (tons of movie references with them showing you snippets from other films) for the first 6 episodes and then completely changes into something else out of the blue basically. The show kinda drops the missing persons case in a sense and it becomes just like a side thing that gets wrapped up just because it has to.

 

[FakeSympathy]

Regarding SW Acolyte, I feel the only saving grace is whenever Master Sol (the Korean Guy) is on screen.

The reviews in South Korea are interesting, because they seem to share my thoughts. The actor who plays him , Jung-Jae Lee, is one of the more popular actors in the country. At the same time, they also don't like the obvious PC agendas.

In fact, they are making the exact same criticisms as western audiences, giving wtf reaction to that witch impregnation scene. Master Sol scenes, tho? They got really hyped about how powerful he is after watching him in action in episode 3

 

[Gordon_4]

I've just gone though the first season of The West Wing. Mainly because its been a long time since I watched it and I thought a second viewing with much older eyes would be interesting.

I still dig Sorkin's writing style and while television to me has not really gotten better or worse than this overall, just shifted focus and tone as the external factors of life shift, it really is amazing to me that there was once such a prestige television drama about the workings of the political system and the people in it that could charm you into feeling that the system would work as long as it was run by people who were smart.


Also, and this will now never not make me laugh; there's a character who shows up a few times through the show's run called "Lord John Marbury", and he's played by an actor called Roger Rees.....who also played the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The things you learn.

 

[thebobmaster]

I've just gone though the first season of The West Wing. Mainly because its been a long time since I watched it and I thought a second viewing with much older eyes would be interesting.

I still dig Sorkin's writing style and while television to me has not really gotten better or worse than this overall, just shifted focus and tone as the external factors of life shift, it really is amazing to me that there was once such a prestige television drama about the workings of the political system and the people in it that could charm you into feeling that the system would work as long as it was run by people who were smart.


Also, and this will now never not make me laugh; there's a character who shows up a few times through the show's run called "Lord John Marbury", and he's played by an actor called Roger Rees.....who also played the Sheriff of Nottingham in Robin Hood: Men in Tights. The things you learn.

I'm now just imagining him discussing an irksome piece of legislation as "chafing his willy".

 

[Gordon_4]

I'm now just imagining him discussing an irksome piece of legislation as "chafing his willy".

Considering the character once rather brazenly asks the First Lady if he can fondle her breasts, such a comment would not be remotely out of left field.

For what it’s worth, I think the best episodes of the first season are In Excelsis Deo which is about a the death of a homeless Korean War veteran, and the mini arc about Leo McGary being publicly outed as a recovering alcoholic and drug addict. Those are more or less carried by John Spencer and he’s more than able.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The Bear: S1: Intense / Great

Carmen, an accomplished chef, inherits his brother's hole-in-the-wall Italian sandwich restaurant in Chicago. While the restaurant has history and is an ostensible staple in the community, it is considered to be a significant step down for someone of "Carmy's" credentials, but he refuses to let it go. What follows is a series of unfortunate events as his rag-tag group of employees, financial stresses, and family troubles make life at the restaurant... difficult.

We started this out of curiosity last night; four hours later, we'd binged the whole first season. Captivating. If life in a professional kitchen is anything like what's depicted here, calling it "stressful" would be akin to calling the surface of the sun "warm." Imagine any one of Gordon Ramsay's cooking shows where he's cussing everyone out at the top of his lungs, but now imagine EVERYONE in the kitchen behaves like Gordon Ramsay. The acting is superb, to the point that I'm not sure I could pull off Carmy's (Jeremy Allen White's) role without actually hitting someone or having a stroke. But it does make you appreciate that there might be people out there with this level of passion and intensity. "Lord, bless the hands that made this food..."

 

[Kyrian007]

I'm now just imagining him discussing an irksome piece of legislation as "chafing his willy".

Roger Rees. One of Mel Brooks' favorite gags was the "Walk this way" gag, and he used it in multiple films. I think the Roger Rees version in Men in Tights was the best one, and that says a lot considering he's going up against Marty Feldman.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

Finished Shogun the other night, which in total took me like four months for 10 episodes. I really enjoyed watching this show, but the ending left me kind of underwhelmed. I didn't need some big battle scene, but the show felt like it was stumbling towards the finish line. Toranaga's master plan was portrayed as strategic and political genius, but I wasn't particularly amazed. After looking at some Reddit posts, it seems that this opinion is shared by readers of the original book.

Overall, don't regret watching. It was a beautifully made show. But it's not at all the "new Game of Thrones".

 

[FakeSympathy]

The Boys S4E5

Overall, I think Simon Pegg stole the spotlight with this episode. Especially when his character begins to cause havoc at the hospital. Other than that, I think the episode was pretty weak. There were some funny scenes like "V'd-up fucking chicken!", but I don't think the plot really went anywhere, other than some characters going through interpersonal conflicts.

The kid who plays Ryan once again does an amazing job of portraying that confused little boy, but I don't think he got enough spotlight in this episode. Ryan reminds me so much of a kid I know at the volunteering, who's around the same age and is confused and always asks questions on everything. Both of them wants to do right things, but society demands them to do it "their" way. They are both easily manipulated and impressed, and I am reminded of how stupid these kids can be.

Seriously, the whole search for supe-virus at the farm felt like it went nowhere, other than to make Stan Edgar free. However, I do think the ending is leading to the attack on Washington D.C. as portrayed in comic

I feel really bad for Hughie now

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Finished Shogun the other night, which in total took me like four months for 10 episodes. I really enjoyed watching this show, but the ending left me kind of underwhelmed. I didn't need some big battle scene, but the show felt like it was stumbling towards the finish line. Toranaga's master plan was portrayed as strategic and political genius, but I wasn't particularly amazed. After looking at some Reddit posts, it seems that this opinion is shared by readers of the original book.

Overall, don't regret watching. It was a beautifully made show. But it's not at all the "new Game of Thrones".

FWIW I read that book and I thought the show did fine with the ending. Not just because the book also doesn't show the actual battle, but because it shifted a bit of focus to Mariko's sacrifice which frankly was necessary considering she's- correctly- presented as one of the three leads.

One thing I'm guessing I liked that maybe others might not have is the emphasis on luck for Toranaga's plan. But I think luck is an underappreciated, underestimated, and overlooked part of politics and just life in general. For example the delay presented by his son's accidental death- that was a show invention, and it was important, and totally luck. I wonder if that takes aways from Toronagai's strategic genius in the eyes of some but I also think people are spoiled by shows like Succession and Game of Thrones where the "smart" characters are playing like 5 dimensional chess and making all these insanely crazy plans. Or something like Death Note or Three Body Problem trilogy where these long-term insanely intricate plans that predict all these circumstances, they can be fun but so unrealistic. In reality the winners of these contests make moves to put themselves in good positions and take advantages of opportunities.

Sorry if that all is confusing but all I'm saying is Toronaga got lucky but he was genius enough to put himself in positions where he could take advantage of it and knew how and that is what it work for me.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

The Boys S4E5

Overall, I think Simon Pegg stole the spotlight with this episode. Especially when his character begins to cause havoc at the hospital. Other than that, I think the episode was pretty weak. There were some funny scenes like "V'd-up fucking chicken!", but I don't think the plot really went anywhere, other than some characters going through interpersonal conflicts.

The kid who plays Ryan once again does an amazing job of portraying that confused little boy, but I don't think he got enough spotlight in this episode. Ryan reminds me so much of a kid I know at the volunteering, who's around the same age and is confused and always asks questions on everything. Both of them wants to do right things, but society demands them to do it "their" way. They are both easily manipulated and impressed, and I am reminded of how stupid these kids can be.

Seriously, the whole search for supe-virus at the farm felt like it went nowhere, other than to make Stan Edgar free. However, I do think the ending is leading to the attack on Washington D.C. as portrayed in comic

I feel really bad for Hughie now

The Boys is a show I love so deeply that I can recognize its problems and honestly I just don't care.

Problem 1- as with the Daily Show and other political satire, you can't even satire anymore when reality is like a satire of satire. The Onion has been made irrelevant. Firecracker's rants are just verbatum QAnon/Alex Jones rants. I appreciate the satire and I think it is on point- especially her decision to Tweet her sex with a minor video, own it, and immediately attack the opponent for doing something actually not bad. That felt real.

Problem 2- Hughie and Frenchie getting subplots that deal with serious issues but it doesn't feel impactful when everybody is having extreme wacky adventures. It just feels out of place and like they're annoying now.

But.. man.. everything else *chef's kiss* Thank god I don't seriously review shows because I just love everything else about it to be fair and critical. I mean when the little girl's face turned into a Cthulu; or when the smart lady needs a temporary lobotomy to party... I'm here for all of this.

 

[Gordon_4]

FWIW I read that book and I thought the show did fine with the ending. Not just because the book also doesn't show the actual battle, but because it shifted a bit of focus to Mariko's sacrifice which frankly was necessary considering she's- correctly- presented as one of the three leads.

One thing I'm guessing I liked that maybe others might not have is the emphasis on luck for Toranaga's plan. But I think luck is an underappreciated, underestimated, and overlooked part of politics and just life in general. For example the delay presented by his son's accidental death- that was a show invention, and it was important, and totally luck. I wonder if that takes aways from Toronagai's strategic genius in the eyes of some but I also think people are spoiled by shows like Succession and Game of Thrones where the "smart" characters are playing like 5 dimensional chess and making all these insanely crazy plans. Or something like Death Note or Three Body Problem trilogy where these long-term insanely intricate plans that predict all these circumstances, they can be fun but so unrealistic. In reality the winners of these contests make moves to put themselves in good positions and take advantages of opportunities.

Sorry if that all is confusing but all I'm saying is Toronaga got lucky but he was genius enough to put himself in positions where he could take advantage of it and knew how and that is what it work for me.

Well being a tactical genius on a level like Toronaga - if my memory of the book and the old Chamberlain/Mifune version is accurate - is recognising luck when it skips in front of you and taking advantage of it. It’s a mistake to think that such plans are intricate intellectual Rube-Goldberg machines that a single person manages to construct and yet still never fall victim to random chaos and chance.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

FWIW I read that book and I thought the show did fine with the ending. Not just because the book also doesn't show the actual battle, but because it shifted a bit of focus to Mariko's sacrifice which frankly was necessary considering she's- correctly- presented as one of the three leads.

One thing I'm guessing I liked that maybe others might not have is the emphasis on luck for Toranaga's plan. But I think luck is an underappreciated, underestimated, and overlooked part of politics and just life in general. For example the delay presented by his son's accidental death- that was a show invention, and it was important, and totally luck. I wonder if that takes aways from Toronagai's strategic genius in the eyes of some but I also think people are spoiled by shows like Succession and Game of Thrones where the "smart" characters are playing like 5 dimensional chess and making all these insanely crazy plans. Or something like Death Note or Three Body Problem trilogy where these long-term insanely intricate plans that predict all these circumstances, they can be fun but so unrealistic. In reality the winners of these contests make moves to put themselves in good positions and take advantages of opportunities.

Sorry if that all is confusing but all I'm saying is Toronaga got lucky but he was genius enough to put himself in positions where he could take advantage of it and knew how and that is what it work for me.

Hmmm I don't think it was the luck aspect for me. I think it was that the ending was treated as a reveal, rather than as a conclusion.

Mariko's death was the climax of both the story and Toranaga's plan. It ties together all of the main characters: Blackthorne gives into his love for Mariko, Mariko finally finds her place to die, and Toranaga displays his strategic brilliance as well is cemented as a cold hearted leader.

Then the show goes on for an entire episode more, with the whole thing with the burning of Blackthorne's ship and Toranaga's true aspiration to become shogun. That just fell flat. It felt like the show was screaming at me "Hey, this guy isn't as noble and benevolent as you thought huh???". Yes, we know Toranaga is a cold bastard. He sent one of his most loyal servants to die without blinking. He made his father figure kill himself for a ruse. His chit chat with Yabushige was basically telling us things we already knew.

So I guess when the story basically didn't wrap up with Mariko's death, I thought there was some other bomb the show was going to drop. But no, Toranaga's plan was pretty much what we thought it was.

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Hmmm I don't think it was the luck aspect for me. I think it was that the ending was treated as a reveal, rather than as a conclusion.

Mariko's death was the climax of both the story and Toranaga's plan. It ties together all of the main characters: Blackthorne gives into his love for Mariko, Mariko finally finds her place to die, and Toranaga displays his strategic brilliance as well is cemented as a cold hearted leader.

Then the show goes on for an entire episode more, with the whole thing with the burning of Blackthorne's ship and Toranaga's true aspiration to become shogun. That just fell flat. It felt like the show was screaming at me "Hey, this guy isn't as noble and benevolent as you thought huh???". Yes, we know Toranaga is a cold bastard. He sent one of his most loyal servants to die without blinking. He made his father figure kill himself for a ruse. His chit chat with Yabushige was basically telling us things we already knew.

So I guess when the story basically didn't wrap up with Mariko's death, I thought there was some other bomb the show was going to drop. But no, Toranaga's plan was pretty much what we thought it was.

The part of the finale that threw me off was the flash forward to dying Blackthorne in London.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

The part of the finale that threw me off was the flash forward to dying Blackthorne in London.

Yeah that was another thing. Although I'm not sure how we were supposed to understand that, since old Blackthorne looked like he was holding on to Mariko's crucifix. I thought he threw that into the lake though.

 

[Dwarvenhobble]

Rome - Season 2

(Own Copy)

Rating: 7 / 10


Tagline: What could have been a far grander well regarded show whose 2nd season's production was apparently almost as chaotic as the events the show depicts

Thoughts (non spoiler): So this is the post Caesar season of the show during which the show runners were told the show would not be renewed for a 3rd season so this season has a number of time skips which can be a bit jarring and as a HBO show from before Game of Thrones it's a far lower budget necessitating some shorter time skips and you seeing the results of events rather than the full bigger events themselves.

Thoughts (Spoilers):

Spoiler: Spoiler thoughts

I really enjoyed season 1 and season 2 picks up in the aftermath of it. Caesar is dead killed by Brutus and the other plotters, what Brutus doesn't know is the other plotters tried and ultimately failed to kill Caesars ally Mark Anthony on the same day and Anthony is known by everyone in the political classes for being brutish and that they would do well to fear him for this. The question is what to do in the turmoil.

It's interesting to watch people underestimate Anthony as a political plotter as machinations on par with Game of Thrones start to decide who will ultimately hold power in Rome. All this becomes more interesting them when Octavian decides to enter the political stage as the main beneficiary of Caesars will.

Don't however expect the romance of Anthony and Cleopatra as this is skipped over with them meeting again in Egypt and then skipping ahead to them already well established as together and in a relationship so toxic and destructive it would make Joker and Harley Quinn declare them a couple who shouldn't be together, as Cleopatra whispers ideas into the ears and an often slightly Opium addled and drunk Anthony.

If you've seen Season 1, then I'd say season 2 is worth a watch just not up to the same quality level because they're trying to compress what should have been at least a 3 season planned story into 2

 

[Old_Hunter_77]

Hit Men 8/10

Came out late last year I think and now on Netflix.
Glen Powell and Andria Arjona (the hot engineer chick) from Andor in a romantic comedy sorta-thriller about a college professor who goes undercover pretending to be a hit man falling in love and getting into stupid dangerous wacky adventures. It's like something out of the late 80s, in a good way- just hot people being hot. I felt like most of the movie was the two of them flirting and fucking I'm alright with that.
There was some Hollywood gossip news about how Tom Cruise "crowned" Powell as the next, well, him, and there is serious Cruise energy with him here. Arjona is just so damn cute and sexy the whole time and the two of them play off each other real well.

It is very loosely based on a real guy but the more absurd plot twists are of course made up.
This is the kind of movie that streaming services should be doing and I hope the trend continues- the stuff that the big studios are afraid doesn't make bank anymore, the mid-tier, low-stakes, fun non-IP flcks for adults.

 

[Bob_McMillan]

The Acolyte Episode 5 was basically one long action sequence and I have no problems with that at all. One the best lightsaber sequences that we've seen in the Disney era, and with some genuinely shocking moments to boot.

That said, I acknowledge that the story has essentially not budged, even with the big villain reveal. I really can't shake the feeling that this show would have been significantly more tolerable as a movie. And with better writing.

I hate to keep bringing up the chuds, but I was almost surprised that they're hating on the fight choreography. I wonder if deep down, they realize how fucking stupid they sound when they complain that "all the attacks aim for the lightsaber instead of the body". These asshole start their day jacking off to the Prequels. Surely, that level of hypocrisy can penetrate their brains.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The Bear: S2:Ep6 "Fishes" Wow / Great

This episode takes place before the events of the current drama, and is a view of Carmy's familial relationships during a Christmas dinner.

They knew this episode was special, as it clocks in at nearly an hour as opposed to the typical 30 minutes, and is more intense than anything the show has given thus far. I'd almost say one who's new to the series could start with this episode as it contextualizes pretty much everything for the beginning. Acting is fucking top notch, again, almost TOO real. I imagine a lot of this episode was improvised as I can't imagine any script writer being able to make comprehensible on a page what is translated on the screen.

I highly recommend this series, if only for this episode.