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

gorfias

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Ted Lasso S3E6 on Apple TV+

I've heard that S3 of Ted Lasso is the weakest to date. So far, I would rank it above S2. I watched E6, "Sunflowers" last night with the wife and daughter and they thought it the best episode of the season so far, one of the best of the show ever. The team is in Amsterdam enjoying the sights, the the coach giving his soccer team the night off without curfew. Sunflowers, I assume, refers to a Van Gogh painting of Ted's home state flower. And we just get to see these characters experience this slice of life.

A


The Honest Trailer

 
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Phoenixmgs

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Ted Lasso S3E6 on Apple TV+

I've heard that S3 of Ted Lasso is the weakest to date. So far, I would rank it above S2. I watched E6, "Sunflowers" last night with the wife and daughter and they thought it the best episode of the season so far, one of the best of the show ever. The team is in Amsterdam enjoying the sights, the the coach giving his soccer team the night off without curfew. Sunflowers, I assume, refers to a Van Gogh painting of Ted's home state flower. And we just get to see these characters experience this slice of life.

A


The Honest Trailer

Season 3 is still a joy to watch, I'd have to watch all the seasons back-to-back to honestly rank them. The only minor things I haven't liked about season 3 has been the show getting too political at one point (you could've just cut that subplot for the episode) and I think the losing streak they go on is a bit much. I'm assuming they're gonna "win it all" at the end and the losing streak for that good of a team seems really exaggerated.
 
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Ag3ma

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You're not allowed to have your evil organisation called Manticore, Dark Angel did that.
Manticores have a bad rep. I think it's the scorpion tail as scorpions are always associated with danger or evil. Whereas combine a lion with an eagle instead to make a gryphon, they're admired and respected because eagles are associated with virtues.
 
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hanselthecaretaker

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Ted Lasso episode 9

Only three left at this point, and (I don’t wanna jinx anything, but) the show is on a good trajectory to finish at a high point. Roy’s story at the press conference was just golden with how it shut up the reporters and put them in a deep check. It seems like a lot still needs to happen with Ted himself though, so we’ll see. Maybe it’ll be one of those endings where his effect on things and those around him is enough of a resolution, but I still think his character deserves more of its own.
 

gorfias

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Season 3 is still a joy to watch, I'd have to watch all the seasons back-to-back to honestly rank them. The only minor things I haven't liked about season 3 has been the show getting too political at one point (you could've just cut that subplot for the episode) and I think the losing streak they go on is a bit much. I'm assuming they're gonna "win it all" at the end and the losing streak for that good of a team seems really exaggerated.
Agreed, I think I wrote earlier how they were such under dogs with no one giving them a chance.
The team includes:
Coach Roy Kent: a former golden boy turned coarch. A great asset.
Jamie Tartt: like Zava, a world class player, even though a jerk early on. And they do add Zava for a time.
Sam Obisanya: a world class talent sought after by the leader of his country of origin in season 2
Dani Rojas: early on a threat to the then jerk Jamie Tartt as he has talent on par with Jamie's.

That by itself is a lot of talent to be considered a failure so early on. Guess that is just for the drama.
 

Phoenixmgs

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Agreed, I think I wrote earlier how they were such under dogs with no one giving them a chance.
The team includes:
Coach Roy Kent: a former golden boy turned coarch. A great asset.
Jamie Tartt: like Zava, a world class player, even though a jerk early on. And they do add Zava for a time.
Sam Obisanya: a world class talent sought after by the leader of his country of origin in season 2
Dani Rojas: early on a threat to the then jerk Jamie Tartt as he has talent on par with Jamie's.

That by itself is a lot of talent to be considered a failure so early on. Guess that is just for the drama.
I didn't mind them being considered probably the worst team in the league seeing as how they were just good enough to get into the better league in essence. However, they went really far with the losing streak where they couldn't even get a goal let alone win to where they couldn't even beat non-pros IIRC in a scrimmage game as well.
 
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Bartholen

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The first two episodes of Inside Job.

This is a sci-fi/conspiracy animated comedy series on Netflix that's already been canceled after only a single season. Based on the first two episodes I can understand why that rustled some jimmies, because it's pretty damn good. It's kind of inevitably compared to Rick and Morty, what with a duo of a super scientist and their clueless foil partner going through wacky sci-fi scenarios with (what feels like) a lot of adlibbing and pop culture references. I know this comparison is completely unfair because I've seen like 5 seasons of Rick and Morty and only two episodes of this, but this series feels a bit more genuine and sincere. It doesn't feel the need to constantly lampoon itself to show how smart it is, it's more focused on the characters, which are pretty great. Reagan, unlike Rick, doesn't just feel like the writers' mouthpiece. She's unbalanced, socially inept and more than a little self-centered, but also passionate, driven and ambitious. Her flaws feel like they're genuinely complemented by the other characters, not Mary Sue -style obligations. Randy is a great comedic foil to her seriousness, and just a sweetheart of a character.

Even if it was axed before its time, I think I'm still going to enjoy this a lot.
 
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BrawlMan

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The first two episodes of Inside Job.

This is a sci-fi/conspiracy animated comedy series on Netflix that's already been canceled after only a single season. Based on the first two episodes I can understand why that rustled some jimmies, because it's pretty damn good. It's kind of inevitably compared to Rick and Morty, what with a duo of a super scientist and their clueless foil partner going through wacky sci-fi scenarios with (what feels like) a lot of adlibbing and pop culture references. I know this comparison is completely unfair because I've seen like 5 seasons of Rick and Morty and only two episodes of this, but this series feels a bit more genuine and sincere. It doesn't feel the need to constantly lampoon itself to show how smart it is, it's more focused on the characters, which are pretty great. Reagan, unlike Rick, doesn't just feel like the writers' mouthpiece. She's unbalanced, socially inept and more than a little self-centered, but also passionate, driven and ambitious. Her flaws feel like they're genuinely complemented by the other characters, not Mary Sue -style obligations. Randy is a great comedic foil to her seriousness, and just a sweetheart of a character.

Even if it was axed before its time, I think I'm still going to enjoy this a lot.
I still have to check the show out, but from the clips I've seen from some of Season 1, Regan and the others I find far more interesting than Rick and most of the entire cast. The problem with R&M is that they can't commit character development (especially Rick's) for shit, and insult their audience for asking better. When it was creators/writers fault for brining it up in the first place. If the writers don't care and insult their target audience, then why should I bother? Especially when your "deconstruction" is nothing more than some shit you would see from middle or high schooler that read up on nihilism one time, and "figured everything out" about how the world works. End rant.

WWZ is a bad movie, and I am glad I never spent a single dime on it.

 
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Bartholen

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I still have to check the show out, but from the clips I've seen from some of Season 1, Regan and the others I find far more interesting than Rick and most of the entire cast. The problem with R&M is that they can't commit character development (especially Rick's) for shit, and insult their audience for asking better. When it was creators/writers fault for brining it up in the first place. If the writers don't care and insult their target audience, then why should I bother? Especially when your "deconstruction" is nothing more than some shit you would see from middle or high schooler that read up on nihilism one time, and "figured everything out" about how the world works. End rant.
Yep. Looking back at it now, Rick and Morty's earlier seasons feel like they were a kind of "The Emperor has no clothes" scenario. Things like the ending of Rick Potion #9, or the ending of season 2 just feel hollow in retrospect because they hint at a much more impactful series than we ever got. Who knows if the writers were always going "lol, jk" in their heads, or if the 10 season announcement caused a fundamental shift in their writing style, but we ended up with a half-measure of a series with pretensions of character development and long-term serialization, but without any actual payoff. Which is really sad, because on the production side R&M is easily one of the best animated series ever. Shame it's mostly wasted on mean-spirited diatribes about whatever popped into Roiland and Harmon's heads during their morning poo.
 

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Who knows if the writers were always going "lol, jk" in their heads, or if the 10 season announcement caused a fundamental shift in their writing style, but we ended up with a half-measure of a series with pretensions of character development and long-term serialization,
Seasons 1 and 2 are pretty clear they weren't constant "lol, jk", but Season 3 showed a sudden shift. They in love with Rick too much, their writing, and basically turning the family into mini-versions of Rick without much rhyme or reason. I'll give some credit to Season 3, but by later seasons, the writers stopped caring and didn't want to commit, and refused to take responsibility by gaslighting their audience. A tactic Rick heavily favors in doing to his family.

The problem with many adult animated comedies (that have finally started to die down a somewhat with this style of writing) is that the creators think by being constantly violent, nihilistic, provocative, or straight up disgusting with little to no reason counts as "good writing". Or trying to hide behind "it's satire excuse!". Their is a good reason why many South Park clones never made it pass their pilot episode, or barely lasted a season. For arrogant as Matt and Trey got at times (and there's plenty), the two men at least learned when they fucked up, realize their mistakes, and either correct them or apologize on things they were ignorant about and thought they knew. I can't say the same for most of the SP style shows that either aired on Comedy Central or adult_swim. Especially the creators of Drawn Together. One of the two creators has a major hate boner for South Park, and it shows in their crappy movie. I am glad to see more adult oriented Western animation finally move away from this, but it still crops up with shows like Velma. Hate it and I will never give it the attention the show and the creators thinks they rightfully deserve. Fuck you, you bitches!

I find it ironic that some of the R&M clones are either better in retrospect, or better to begin with because they did their own thing. The only thing of major influence is the animation style and some character designs. Otherwise, Inside Job and Lower Decks do what works for them to stand out.

Which is really sad, because on the production side R&M is easily one of the best animated series ever. Shame it's mostly wasted on mean-spirited diatribes about whatever popped into Roiland and Harmon's heads during their morning poo.
When that becomes the results, it's highly debatable for me and not worth it in the end. I did play catch up with on my own time with Season 4, but wasn't impressed. Most of Season 5 I skipped and only cared about the Evil Morty sub-plot finishing up, and didn't bother with Season 6 and I knew the writing would drop even further. I spent my time watching other better animated shows, regardless if the target audience are kids, teens, adults, or somewhere between all three.
 
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Hawki

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Ice Age: Scrat Tales (3/5)

A collection of slapstick animated shorts starring Scrat and "Baby Scrat" as they fight over acorns and everything else.

That's...kinda it really. Never understood why everyone loves this rodent, but whatever. Slapstick. Have fun, or something.
 
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Old_Hunter_77

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I don't like retro-hating on the adult animated comedies.
Yes, they've gone on too long, I stopped watching them all a long time ago, and they dilute and degrade by leaning too hard on nihilism, Flanderisms, and meta.

BUT...

My god, was South Park earth-shatteringly hilarious and brilliant when it came out.
Old man rant time: I was into it before it was cool. In that, the "Christmas card" video that Stone and Parker made to get the show in the first place was being traded on VHS tapes in colleges and I was in the with A/V folks who had a copy and got to watch it. It is still weird to me that this funny thing a few of us knew about is like a 30 yr mass-culture phenomenon. Wild.

Family Guy was a much needed and welcome antidote to the Simpsons getting stale. Those first, I dunno, 5 or so (?) seasons were constant lol.

And yes, Rick and Morty first couple of seasons are so damn funny and clever, they really are. The creators navel gazing too much afterwards and a few of their fans throwing nugget sauce at minimum wage workers or whatever doesn't change that.

There is only one adult animated show that knew when to quit it: Bojack Horseman.
 
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Thaluikhain

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Always thought South Park was hit or miss. Sometimes it could be funny, other times it's just being gross as if it's the same thing.

But...the Bat dad. And Satan throwing the match against Jesus. Those were great.
 
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Piscian

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Lately I've been watching "Drops Of God" its a new show on Apple+, adapted from a manga of the same name. The premise is that a young french author is contacted by her astranged father, a fabulously wealthy wine critic, on his death bed asking her to fly to Tokyo and see him before he dies.

In his will hes left her in a wine tasting contest against his best student for his wine collection worth $148mil.

Its a strange watch as its very well acted and a serious drama, but just on the edges it has hints of manga smell on it. Small tropes you wouldn't pick up on unless you read manga.

A lot of it, like that style of otaku manga, relies your curiosity about wine and the strength of the characters.

For the most part it delivers, the characters are interesting, the narrative unfolds in such a way that it keeps you on a hook.

I wouldn't say its anything mind-blowing but its fun and you get to see a lot of very pretty parts of france and Japan. Outside of wine enthusiasts I think Id mostly recommend it to folks that need a break from the more loud television right now. This is altogether more quiet and contemplative, relaxing.

Oh bit of a warning or maybe complement, they don't fuck around with language here. If someone speaks Japanese, they are speaking Japanese, same with French and English so this is subtitle heavy. The languages shift realistically. Theres even moments where they compromise and everyone speaks English if thats the common denominator.

 
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Gordon_4

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Lately I've been watching "Drops Of God" its a new show on Apple+, adapted from a manga of the same name. The premise is that a young french author is contacted by her astranged father, a fabulously wealthy wine critic, on his death bed asking her to fly to Tokyo and see him before he dies.

In his will hes left her in a wine tasting contest against his best student for his wine collection worth $148mil.

Its a strange watch as its very well acted and a serious drama, but just on the edges it has hints of manga smell on it. Small tropes you wouldn't pick up on unless you read manga.

A lot of it, like that style of otaku manga, relies your curiosity about wine and the strength of the characters.

For the most part it delivers, the characters are interesting, the narrative unfolds in such a way that it keeps you on a hook.

I wouldn't say its anything mind-blowing but its fun and you get to see a lot of very pretty parts of france and Japan. Outside of wine enthusiasts I think Id mostly recommend it to folks that need a break from the more loud television right now. This is altogether more quiet and contemplative, relaxing.

Oh bit of a warning or maybe complement, they don't fuck around with language here. If someone speaks Japanese, they are speaking Japanese, same with French and English so this is subtitle heavy. The languages shift realistically. Theres even moments where they compromise and everyone speaks English if thats the common denominator.

How do you will someone a wine tasting competition?
 

Piscian

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How do you will someone a wine tasting competition?
The initial argument made when she challenged it during the reading is that the laws are different in Japan and that willing his estate to whomever wins the competition is legal there. No idea if thats true, but I cant any assumptions. Laws are different everywhere.
 

Gordon_4

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The initial argument made when she challenged it during the reading is that the laws are different in Japan and that willing his estate to whomever wins the competition is legal there. No idea if thats true, but I cant any assumptions. Laws are different everywhere.
Okay it sounds like writing has truncated something that is probably possible. Upon his death, the man has willed his estate to a trust to be used as the grand prize in a competition. Strange but nothing jumps out as illegal or unethical about it.
 

hanselthecaretaker

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A couple things the wife and I have been watching lately

First it’s The Last Thing He Told Me

Stars Elektra (no, not Carmen) and Jamie of GoT fame as her fiancé and the show’s flashback hook, and apparently he’s tangled up in some bad shit, because he disappears. There’s also his daughter, who is kind of a dead ringer for the chic in Quantumania. It definitely has that old school TV drama/suspense feel to it, but there’s a pretty good twist that builds some intrigue at what, six episodes in now to keep with it.


Then there’s Love and Death

I’m enjoying this one more, simply because it feels a bit more modern production-wise and it’s billed up front as a “true story”. Not even “based on…” so yeah, I’m curious. It revolves around Scarlet Witch having an affair with Todd from Breaking Bad, and the crazy ***** from American Horror Story is his wife! So, quite the cast and yes one of them dies, which is where the “Death” half of the title comes in.

The latest episode introduces some new characters after the shit starts hitting the fan, and the attorney is quite entertaining to watch. I must also declare that Elizabeth is by far the best of the Olsen chics; both in looks and talent.
 
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