Discussion questions:
What TV shows or films have you watched recently?
What subscription services are you subscribed to, if any?
Question of the week:
What movies are you anticipating in 2023?
Question of the week is the same as last time since 2023 has barely started.
Last show I watched was Wednesday, and it was better than I expected, and planning to watch Last of Us next. I’ve got netflix and splitting crave (which is a Canadian flavor of HBO) with a friend. Haven’t really kept up with movies since the pandemic started. :)
Heard good things about The Last of Us.
The games were great, so definitely looking forward to it. :)
Absolutely no subscriptions, not worth it at all. I just finished watching a few months ago “In the Name of the People”, Chinese thriller about anti-corruption. Now I’m watching “The Knockout” which is in the same vein, but it hasn’t gripped me strongly like the former did.
99.9% of western media is soooo bad.
Yeah western media sucks. It’s not just that I dislike the messaging, it’s just bad. A billion dollar production can’t go five minutes without an over-produced CGI explosion. Subtlety is no long allowed. Every conversation needs to be a screaming match or a fight or a fuck. Every trope is driven by trope or absurdism.
Anyway, do you have the folder for “In the Name of the People”? If you do, can I have the magnet?
Yeah I totally agree. The level of tropes and anti-proletarian themes of so much western media is annoying.
INP is available to stream on youtube with both english and mandarin subtitles, that’s where I watched it.
thanks. I didn’t even try youtube
kewl beans
Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul currently and waiting for The Mandalorian season 3
Oh I loved better call saul, and I think it’s a better show than breaking bad. Mandalorian was the first star wars related content I’ve really enjoyed in a very long time.
The Mandalorian is only good Star Wars from Disney along with Obi Wan Kenobi series and Rogue One, still haven’t watched Andor.
I heard good things about Andor from a friend whose taste I trust. I genuinely liked mandalorian; I went into it thinking it would be like some of the other star wars content that just seems like churned out for the sake of it
yall oughta get on that Andor ride, it’s fucking great and actually more coherent and based than anything disney-canon ever produced
it’s on my list
It’s on my list
Pog. I’m currently watching The Bad Batch.
Are Star Wars animated shows really good? I always hear that they are but idk still.
The Clone Wars series both 2003 and 2008 (you can watch the movie if you want it’s mainly an intro to new characters while the new writers showing you the gist through a simple story) were literally the best pieces the franchise produced
Both at the same time?
Yes, first time I watched BB and El Camino then BCS, now chronologically.
Ah that makes sense. I’ve seen BB and El Camino more than once too idk why that didn’t cross my mind. Who’s your favorite character and your favorite arc or season
That’s really hard question, since literally every main character from BB seasons 1-4 except Skyler is my favorite, but if I have to choose, I would say either Waltuh, Saul or Jesse, Jesse has best arc hands down. Best BB season either 2 or 3, best BCS season 5.
I feel like I’m the only one who didn’t dislike Skyler some days. She was far better than her sister imo. I gotta give it to season 4. Jesse’s depression and improvement, Walt under diamond making pressure, Skyler trying to hold everything together while being fastened by paperclips and string herself, Hank getting humbled, Gus on top of the world, Saul being the dialing back the persona and trying to help out the duo, Mike was… there… shot some people i guess, Huell’s magic carpet trick for Ted with a season long build-up to the biggest crescendo seen on TV. Too good .Season 3 was absolutely the wildest. So many twists and turns. I have like 5 “OH shit” moments glued to my brain. Yet somehow the bottle episide was my favorite lol. I need to finish BCS so bad I haven’t finished season 2 yet. Personally more of a Jesse Hank or Skyler guy myself depends on the day. Usually a deciding factor is stumbling upon a Dean Norris Cameo but hey I’m only human what can I say? By arc I was thinking story not character whoops. Jesse got the ending he deserved truly.
Marie was at least interesting and very supportive imo, Skyler was annoying 24/7. Agree, season 3 was an experience first time watching, I also love Hank the whole time from start except that one time with Jesse, in one second he’s the biggest clown around and in other he’s badass who takes on cartel members unarmed. Jesse def got right ending, his family was awful to him whole time for no reason even after he got off drugs, one of the best parts was when he brought the house back lol.
Skyler was literally the only reasonable person in the show lmao I feel like we needed her to have the show feel real. She was also abused and gaslit to hell and back and had a wedge drove between her and Jr. by Walt because she was reasonably worried about a new Charger. And yknow he implied that he had the capacity to kill her in the “I am the danger” scene. She didn’t deserve any of this but after she came around she did but everything she could to help… until season 5 but goddamn I’m not blaming her. Marie isn’t like a bad person, I just know too many people like her. And all the fucking purple Jesus christ we get it we know you think you’re royalty. I’m pretty sure her coffee maker is purple
I’m watching the new season of Star Trek Picard that premiered this week, apart from that I don’t have time to watch anything else, a lot of work has been given to me to stay busy during the carnival break
Gotcha
xiong chumo, the chinese animated movie series. It’s surprisingly good.
Oh wow nice
I watched Seven Samurai earlier today
Noice!
I am currently re-watching James Cameron’s “Avatar” (2009) and I have recently seen Event Horizon (1997). I Also recently finished season 4 of The Expanse. I am also anticipating the streaming release of Avatar: The Way of Water.
I’m anticipating Dune Part II. It’s the only movie I think I’m likely to anticipate or care about for some time in terms of new productions.
That isn’t to say I’m not anticipating new releases of old movies as I always keep an eye on Criterion’s release schedule among others.
I’ve watched several Criterion releases from the past 6 months lately. Picking my way through commentary re-watches of several things presently.
HBOMax and Criterion channel are about the only things I find to have value. For everything else there’s Plex/Jellyfin/Emby.
Awesome
I just finished watching a (south) Korean series called My Name. It’s only one series. It’s good not great, but I liked it. Ok way to kill some time.
kewl
I’ve been Overdosing on Liberal Media and tbh I’m feeling comfortably numb. I watched the new Bill Maher (guest is a 60 yr old black dude who is fighting for Ukraine, one of the most liberal ass Dems you can imagine, and a moderate Republican) and some of The West Wing. Idk why I’m doing this to myself, it’s just that the liberals have such a simple clear-cut black and white world of “successful” and not, “smart” and not, “qualified” and not, “progressive” and not to the point that I almost see those shows as fantasy in the same vain as Lord of the Rings or Star Wars
I remember West Wing. At the time of watching I remember thinking that they were trying to show everyone as honest acting, trying to do the best they can in a complicated but well-intentioned push-pull. I still found the show enjoyable at the time, but it was clear that I was watching a romantic depiction of how liberals would like to view politics.
I think that it’s actually an interesting show to look back on because of how it couldn’t be made today. That show represented the civility that was believed to exist in American Politics and how the US political system was broadly viewed by the people of the US and beyond. At about the same time I think I did believe Europe to be a bastion of Western Civilization rather than the colonial play thing of the US.
Today we have AOC accusing nondescript Republican protesters of attempting to gang-rap her in the streets. For me that was just such an extraordinary low exertion to be made out of thin-air. It’s unpleasant to live in a climate where you can’t even pretend civility and anything goes.
If nothing else, West-Wing shows us how far we’ve fallen. In the early 2000’s we were already living through the beginning of the end. We’re sill living in the wake of the post-2001 wars. We haven’t moved on to a new stage. We’ve only just begun to reach the end of what started back then, but the Bush/Obama years were still seen as a time where the US displayed itself as an unassailable force of confidence and competence.
The ship is half-sunk: it isn’t that weird to reminisce about when it was just coming off the ship-yard. People endlessly watch Friends. People are trapped in the 2000’s and before even when they were never personally there.
It is pretty crazy to think that Cheney and George Bush were seen as “rude” by liberals rather than what they are, terrorists
So while George Bush was Governor of Texas he was pushing hard for the death penalty. He personally ordered the execution of this one removed guy be pushed forward and watched the execution take place. He was recounting this to the interviewer who said that Bush was laughing about it. He was laughing about how the man cried for his mother and mocked his frightened pleas, “Mommy! Mommy” Laughing, Mocking.
I tried to find the citation, but I can’t even remember the book I read that from. It was written by the interviewer. I read it when Obama was President, probably second term. Could have been a “Nation” article too. Hopefully a passer-by can provide it.
The two of them were a much greater evil that they will ever get credit for.
Here’s this for good measure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bgbHlqa8mg
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Tagging people that were previously here for the other threads.
Recently seen:
The Thing
Repo Man
The Long Goodbye
The Player
Mulholland Drive
Bob Roberts
The Player was just fucking incredible. Would recommend it to anyone. It’s like if Curb Your Enthusiasm was a dark comedy thriller. So good.
Anticipate for this year: nothing.
love mulholland drive
