I am so pleased to share the news that the Canadian time travel series Continuum is available again in the U.S. It just popped up on Prime, and I'm already rewatching. If you like exciting, complex time travel stories and didn't catch Continuum when it first aired, give it a try. It's one of those shows that keeps adding layers of complexity and coolness as it progresses.
How about you guys?
Morella: Just watched the 1973 version of Wicker Man. Definitely not one I'd have liked as a kid, and very odd, but was quite good and Christopher Lee is always great. It's 'folk horror' which doesn't have too many entries I guess. I have Witchfinder General (Conqueror Worm), which is another I watched last year. It stars Vincent Price as the main villain and one of his darkest performances ever.
Victoria Grossack: I am Down Under where I am watching birds and fish and recently made a boat trip to the Great Barrier Reef! While here, I am not watching TV, although I might do some DNC highlights. However, en route, Singapore Airlines offered the complete final season of Young Sheldon. I started watching it, and I intend to complete it on my return journey at the start of next week. I am married to a physicist and so I relate to the series.
Mark Greig: Rewatched The Running Man and Cutthroat Island just to see if they were as bad as I remember. The Running Man has actually aged better than I thought in some regards, I couldn't help but laugh when the evil TV show executives used deep fakes create the ending they wanted (then wept for the current state of entertainment), but as a Schwarzenegger sci-fi action film it's still kinda meh without a Cameron or Verhoeven calling the shots. Cutthroat Island was just a bombastic mess, made all the worse by a truly terrible performance by Geena Davis. With Rings of Power back on next week, I'm hoping to fit in a rewatch of season one at some point.
ChrisB: I loved Young Sheldon and blasted through it in record time. While there are some glaring differences between that show and The Big Bang Theory, they did not diminish my pleasure of either of them.
I also just finished a rewatch of The West Wing while I was listening to The West Wing Weekly, a podcast that I highly recommend for any fans of the show.
Samantha M. Quinn: I just finished watching Blue Eye Samurai, which is a Netflix animated series that is basically Kill Bill if it was set in feudal Japan. It is a very hard R, with some disturbing and graphic violence. It does feature two very strong women and one of the sweetest supporting characters ever. Plus the animation is simply gorgeous.
I was both apprehensive and excited to discover that Battlestar is finally in Prime and I watched the mini-series to see if it could still grab me after two decades. I had forgotten just how good that show was, and it just reinforced my eternal love for Katee Sackhoff. Speaking of which Katee has a podcast right now and she just interviewed Edward James Olmos and Rekha Sharma.
I haven't started the final season of Umbrella Academy yet, and I'm a bit afraid to get into it. Anyone have any opinions on the final season that will ease my anxiety?
Josie Kafka: I'm not watching much right now, but I've got something on my radar: The Terror.
It's based on a Dan Simmons novel (horror, I think?) that is itself based on an actual disastrous expedition through the Arctic circle. I've always been curious about it, and it just popped up on Netflix.
I'm even more curious about it because my book club recently read Kaliane Bradley's new novel The Ministry of Time, in which one of those nineteenth-century explorers time travels to the twenty-first century. His name is Commander Gore, and he is a very wonderful character in that book.
I have a crush on him. He is, according to one of my book club friends, my "book boyfriend." Apparently that's a thing people have now.
ChrisB: I love the idea of a book boyfriend. I have too many to count!
Mark Greig: Started my Rings of Power rewatch and it is fun seeing the show try to recap the events of The Silmarillion without directly referencing anything specific to The Silmarillion because they do not have the rights to it. Good thing Tolkien included so much backstory in the LOTR appendices, otherwise this show would be screwed. I'm also currently rereading the book and am tempt to skip right to them just to see what the writers can and cannot use. I really hope they can use that bit where Sauron got beat up by a dog and ran away crying.
Mikey Heinrich: I love the idea of a book boyfriend. My default BBF will always be Chad Mulligan, Chief of Police for Lakeside in American Gods. Although I have to admit that interacting with American Gods has gotten complicated for me in light of recent events in ways that I haven't figured out how to process yet.
At some point season two of Sandman is going to be released by Netflix, and I'm going to have to make a decision about whether or not to address the issue. I honestly don't know which way I'm going to go at this point regarding bring it up or don't.
I've been bouncing back and forth between The Good Wife and Evil – and took an astonishingly long time to notice that they're created by the same people. Catching up on Evil also allowed me to come across a very lovely and generous compliment that Josie had included in a review, for which I'm very grateful. I lost my job last week very suddenly, and had been feeling really down this morning until I saw that.
In case any one is wondering, they shut down the iron foundry where I worked, which means that if I have nothing else going for me, I at least have managed to become a Bruce Springsteen song.
Oh, and speaking of Bruce Springsteen, one of the later episodes of The Morning Show ended with a montage set to a cover of 'Dancing in the Dark' by Biz Colletti, whom I had never heard of. It's haunting and lovely and captivating. Highly recommended.
ChrisB: I’m so sorry to hear that news, Mikey. It’s always a tough thing when that happens. Sending you lots of good vibes as you find your next life adventure.
Mikey Heinrich: Much appreciated :) So far my main complaint is that it's forcing me to interact with LinkedIn, which I despise.
ChrisB: I am SO with you on that. I avoid that site as much as I can. Unfortunately, it’s also a good way to reach out to people.
Josie Kafka: Evil should have done an episode on LinkedIn. No demons needed. It's just innately evil.
Mikey, I'm glad you found my compliment! Just imagine how many other people out there in the world are thinking about how cool you are, and you might have no idea.
Mikey Heinrich: I'm sorry, but you're not allowed to say things that nice to me when you're too far away to hug.
An Honest Fangirl: I’m really sorry to hear that, Mikey. Sending lots of good vibes and love your way!
Mikey Heinrich: Thanks very much. It'll all work out. In the meantime, all the free time has allowed me to catch up on some shows. And now I feel compelled to start writing a spec script for Evil where they're assigned to investigate LinkedIn and everyone's just shrugging and saying, 'Yep, it's evil.'
I've also been devoting time to obsessively search out casting information about the Thursday Murder Club Netflix adaptation. As far as I can tell, Tom Ellis is playing Jason Ritchie – Which makes him Pierce Brosnan's son, which I can totally see – and David Tennant is playing In Ventham. If you've read the book (not a spoiler) you now know that a major plot point of the movie will be a snapshot of The Doctor and Lucifer sitting with a third friend at the pub. Dare we hope for Mark Sheppard?
Mikey Heinrich: Ian Ventham. Not In Ventham. That has all sorts of inappropriate connotations about him and Benedict Cumberbatch's mum.
Mothra: Mikey, I'm sorry to hear about your job, but glad to hear your optimism about what might happen next. And I'm most definitely interested in any show that suggests that social media has demonic origins.
I have been continuing my Buffy rewatch. I was happy to discover that my local library has the collector's DVDs, so I've been bouncing around between episodes and special features. I started watching Buffy originally during season four, and I have been wishing so badly that I could have seen the first few seasons in an unspoiled state. I'm midway through season two, and it's hard for me to fathom just how hard some of those episodes (you know the ones) must have hit they first aired.
Billie Doux: Mothra, I was once at a big party in Philadelphia and got into a conversation with a total stranger about how floored we were by the second season of Buffy, which had just aired. That season was so unexpected and intense that it made me into a die-hard Buffy fan.
Mothra: I can only imagine. The good news is that it's been long enough since I watched the series last that I'd forgotten some of the other twists such as (I'm putting these in white text in case any of us haven't seen all of Buffy – highlight to see the text):
- the marionette was a good guy!
- Jenny Calendar was a gypsy!
- Oz was a werewolf! (don't ask me how I could have forgotten that)
...so there are still some surprises to be enjoyed.
Billie Doux: So, readers – what are you guys watching this week? Or looking forward to this fall?
Oooh, I forgot to add my favorite book boyfriend, and that was Hawk in Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. When it became a TV series and Avery Brooks was cast as Hawk, it was like, perfect.
ReplyDeleteI'm realizing that I never said what I was watching! Although, honestly, it isn't much.
ReplyDeleteI've been following Hard Knocks, both pre-season with the NY Giants and now training camp with the Chicago Bears. Basically, it's a behind the scenes, all access look at what goes on behind the scenes of a football team. Pre-season was so much better than training camp.
But more importantly, this means that football season is imminent and I'm very, very excited about it.
Beyond that, I watched Alien: Covenant, just to see if it was as good as I remember it being, (Answer: both yes and no), and a lot of shark movies that I won't end up reviewing. I'm still looking for a fun one for this week. But I did find what my last "Hot Summer Shark Fest" movie will be, so I'm excited for that review come Labor Day.
Also I continue to be very excited for Thursday Murder Club adaptation. Can totally see Tom Ellis as Pierce Brosnan's son.
ReplyDeleteI forgot to mention that Continuum is freaking amazing!
ReplyDeleteMikey, I'm so sorry to hear about your job. I hope you find something soon. I made a LinkedIn account over a decade ago and it occasionally haunts my inbox despite being wildly out of date.
I missed most of the first season of Buffy and started in S2 back when it first aired. I remember being shocked at the progression from Surprise/Innocence to Passions to Becoming and being absolutely blown away.
As someone who had to move after losing a job, and was almost homeless due to that, I can definitely empathize, Mikey. I still work in manufacturing, but not automotive anymore (mostly heavy industry here where I've been for almost 14 years now). I've never used Linkedin, but it does sound awful, hope you find something soon.
ReplyDeleteMothra: If you think series 2 hit hard, wait until you get to series 5.
ReplyDelete(Also, making text white only works if your reader isn't using a dark mode extension on zeir browser; otherwise, it shows up as white on black.)
Anyway ...
The Wicker Man has only one version, and that's the one. Utterly brilliant and horrifying stuff.
I thought The Terror was very good indeed, and enjoyed it thoroughly.
I'm very much looking forward to watching the final series of Evil, but it's been so long since the last series that I'll probably have to watch that, too, just to remember what's going on. Or I suppose I could read Doux Reviews ... huh.
I have never actually watched more than a few episodes of the new (well, new at the time) Battlestar Galactic, but what I did see I thought was good; Edward James Olmos is always great. I need to start over and try again.
Right now I just finished running through Vienna Blood, which was fun, if a bit too Russel T Davies at times. The leads, however, were wonderful to watch together, and the settings and cinematography excellent. Vienna is a gorgeous place.
Also starting Dark Matter, which has a good first few episodes, though I wonder whether they're really going to be able to drag it out for the whole 8 or 10 or whatever they've got. Six would probably do. We shall see!
Definitely adding Continuum to the list! Thanks for that, O Canada.
I’m getting the chance to re-watch an old favorite.
ReplyDeletePeacock has put Homicide: Life on the Street on streaming for the first time.
As a cop show from the ‘90s, I’m finding it hilariously dated in some aspects and sadly just as relevant today as it was then. Some episodes are just as brilliant as I remember.
I recommend this show for:
Fans of The Wire, this was David Simon's first attempt at a cop show in Baltimore. Think of it as a bit of a prequel.
For fans of Brooklin Nine-Nine, Andre Braugher aka Captain Holt, plays brilliant and articulate detective Frank Pembleton.
For fans of Law and Order: SVU, Detective John Munch's character originated on this show.
For fans of great writing, I’ve never seen a show before or since that has captured the inane conversations you have with co-workers. The character's petty grievances make them so real, and the handheld cameras make it feel more like a documentary than scripted television. This is a master class in writing dialogue.
I’m just finishing up Lisey’s Story, part of my ongoing quest to watch any recent Stephen King adaptations. It’s one of his most complex and personal novels, and this carries through to the mini-series. Probably because he wrote the teleplay, so this is very Stephen King all the way through.
ReplyDeleteGreat cast (Julianne Moore, Joan Allen, Jennifer Jason-Leigh, and an oddly miscast Clive Owen). Gorgeously shot - it looks like what you’d get if you tried to film a poem - but such a deliberate pace that probably won’t work for most people.
Do I like it? Just like the book, yes I do. Do I understand it? Just like the book, not sure that I do. But even incomprehensible King is ok by me.
Glad to see some Alien: Covenant love in the comments! I'm forever crushed there are no plans to complete the prequel trilogy. David is my easy fave after Ripley.
ReplyDeleteThe powers that be have decided to put Lost back on Netflix, so it was dominated my waking hours this last month (much to the chagrin of the stack of books on my bedside), and I've been continuing an all-year X-Files rewatch (this time with the spinoffs that I had never watched before since I found them on the Internet Archive)