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This Week: Excellent Glares

An Honest Fangirl: Now that fall TV has come back, what is everyone watching?

I tried two new shows. A Murder in a Small Town was very good. Apparently it’s based on a book? It stars Kristen Kreuk as a librarian love interest, and was a lot cozier than I expected it to be.

I also tried Doctor Odyssey, and I really wasn’t expecting penile fractures to be such a large part of the plot. I don’t know how to describe the vibe other than “Peak 2010s Tumblr That Needs to Relitigate What Queerbaiting Actually Is.” But it has a lot of actors from other shows that we’ve covered here, including Don Johnson who is just everywhere for me lately.

Morella: Been slow on the watching front for me. I just watched Dracula has Risen from the Grave again, but mostly playing Keep the Heroes Out since my kickstarter stuff arrived, and playing games like Core Keeper and V Rising since they've fully launched this year.

Victoria Grossack: Alas, I was down and out with covid (1st timer), and although I could indulge in guilt-free TV, I was too headachy and tired to do more than rewatch shows. Negative test this morning, but still dealing with some fatigue.

ChrisB: Feel better soon, Victoria. I’ve had COVID twice. It is really not fun.

In honor of Maggie Smith, I am rewatching Downton Abbey. I haven’t seen it since I dropped the last show review and have been pleasantly surprised at how much I am enjoying it this time through. The early years were so good. I am approaching the later years with a bit of trepidation, but we will see what happens when I get there.


Samantha M. Quinn: How could I forget Maggie Smith was in Downton Abbey? I'm not sure I would be able to get into a rewatch of Downton, which is weird because I did love that show when it aired.

I did start a rewatch of Lost and I spent the entire pilot almost crying as I remembered how much I loved the characters. Even seeing Boone and Michael again was affecting.

Just finished up season one of my Supernatural rewatch and I had forgotten how good those final few episodes were, also there is a real uptick in both music and a giant shift of focus from monster of the week to the boys and their relationship.

I watched the first couple episodes of Agatha All Along and so far I am liking the series, I do need to catch up this week, because I've heard there are some big things happening.

Billie Doux: I'm in the fifth and final season of a Person of Interest rewatch, and I know I have a lot of sobbing coming soon. And I'm nearly done with Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, which I am finding deeply disturbing and oddly confusing. I hope the final episode makes it all clearer.

Morella: I just watched Dracula: Prince of Darkness last night as well. It's the one where Christopher Lee, as the titular vampire, never says a word. He does have some excellent glares, though.

Billie Doux: "Excellent glares." Good one, Morella. :)

Sunbunny: I’ve started Nobody Wants This on Netflix, mainly to see Kristen Bell in a starring role again, and I’m pleasantly surprised with how much I’m enjoying it. Agatha All Along is also scratching my camp witchy show itch.

Mark Grieg: I'm 180 episodes into One Piece now and I think the shape of the overall story arc is finally starting to form (something to do with the secret history of the world), but the story arcs are feeling more drawn out, the fights more repetitive, and the character designs more fanservice-y (RIP Nami's t-shirts). I'm gonna soldier on, but not confident I'll make it to the finish line.


Mikey Heinrich: I finished The Good Wife and now am nearly done with The Good Fight. Enjoying it immensely. I think I might need to go to Chilling Adventures of Sabrina next, because I'm seriously jonesing for a Michelle Gomez fix.

Which makes me wonder. For those of you who celebrate Michelle Gomez, what's your favorite of her work?

I know I'm expected to say Doctor Who, and don't get me wrong, she was great there. But every second of her in Doom Patrol is an absolute treasure.

Billie Doux: I had to go look her up on IMDb, and the only thing I've seen Michelle Gomez in is The Flight Attendant. In which she was very good. I missed all the Doctor Who she was in.

Mikey Heinrich: She was so good on The Flight Attendant.

Morella: I only know her from Doctor Who.

I just watched Brides of Dracula, another Hammer vampire film, although this one lacks Christopher Lee as the Count, but it does have Peter Cushing as an excellent Van Helsing! It also stars Yvonne Monlaur as the leading lady, and between her accent and how lovely she is, I love her in this film, even if she bears a lot of responsibility for the events it contains!

Billie Doux: Michelle was indeed excellent in The Flight Attendant. Since we're doing a "what are you watching," let me add that I didn't like the second season. But the first is great and there's a good ending, so you don't need to watch the second season. Unless you want to.


Mikey Heinrich: For the record, I totally agree, Billie. The second season of The Flight Attendant is totally skippable.

Morella: I wanted to add that for those that enjoy video games, and especially FPS games with some horror themes to fit the season, I've been playing through F.E.A.R. again and highly recommend it. The original game and Extraction Point expansions are amazing, the second game and the Perseus Mandate expansion for the first game are okay, the third game is dreadfully bad.

An Honest Fangirl: Oh, F.E.A.R. is great. It's such a classic. I'm glad to hear that it still holds up. I haven't played it in years.

9 comments:

  1. After this was posted I also watched 'Dracula AD 1972' for the first time. Another Hammer Dracula movie I hadn't watched yet as this one and the following 'Satanic Rites of Dracula' aren't as well regarded as their predecessors. It wasn't as bad as I expected and one of the antagonists is the same actor who played Skagra in the 4th Doctor story 'Shada' (Christopher Neame), but the music felt off for a horror movie, and the hip 70s settings don't work as well for me as the traditional Gothic settings I prefer for my horror.

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    1. Oh yeah! Love the Christopher Lee as Dracula header pic! He's such an imposing figure and between that and his impressive voice, he's great as Dracula, even if he apparently wasn't a huge fan of the role.

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    2. I'm glad you approve! There were several that I was torn between, but at least this one didn't have a significant amount of blood on his face.

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    3. That is a thing for sure! Hammer's blood effects are very odd to me watching them all these years later too. Like very thick, and very bright red. Not a thing I really noticed as a kid watching these on 'Shock Theater' on Saturday afternoons.

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    4. The history of fake blood is a long a fascinating one. The Hammer films were using a mixture developed by Herschell Gordon Lewis in the UK. But the good stuff didn't come into use until about the mid-1970s, with films such as The Exorcist, The Godfather, and Taxi Driver finally getting a realistic blood recipe from the work of one Mr Dick Smith.

      Here is one of many interesting articles on the subject:-

      https://www.fxelements.com/guide/the-complete-history-of-fake-blood

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    5. Thanks for the article link! I watch a lot of Shudder documentaries, and they usually have Tom Savini. His insight of FX and horror makeup is always fascinating to me.

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  2. Anything with Christopher Lee in it is worth a look.

    Generally true of Maggie Smith, as well, though I really can't bring myself to deal with Downton Abbey, I'm afraid.

    Person of Interest was referred to by Ars Technica as one of the most significant science-fiction series of all time, and I don't think they were wrong. I love that show. Michael Emerson, as ever, is just brilliant; I can never say enough good things about him. Jim Caviezel does a perfectly serviceable job as Mr Reese, and one simply has to push aside the knowledge that the actor himself is an utter fascist loon. Taraji Henson, Amy Acker, Sarah Shahi, Kevin Chapman: all great. And Bear.

    As for series, I just finished Constellation, which was pretty good, though a bit slow (which I generally do not mind at all), and it's better if you turn it off just before the last 30 seconds.

    And if you have access to UK television, the new BBC series Ludwig, starring Victoria Coren-Mitchell's husband David and the always excellent Anna Maxwell Martin, is fabulous fun. Seriously introverted crossword puzzle setter is talked into impersonating his twin brother, a police detective, who has gone missing, and solves murders along the way.

    Oh, and gradually going through my new Blue-ray edition of Star Trek (the original series, of course). Never gets old.

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    1. I have the original series on DVD or Blu-Ray (can't recall which offhand while at work) as well. I should get TNG one of these days too.

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  3. I just finally realized where I recognize the actor who plays Klove, the creepy servant of Dracula in 'Dracula, Price of Darkness'! It's Philip Latham who played Borusa in the 5 Doctors!

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