What Are You Watching..?

[sadoldgit]

For those who haven’t seen it yet I can thoroughly recommend Adolescence. Each episode is filmed in one take which adds to the gritty realism of the drama. The young lad who plays Jamie is phenomenal but the rest of the cast are also superb. I’ll warn you now, Episode 3 is a gut wrencher and feels like you are eavesdropping on an actual session between real people. It takes me back to the gritty black and white dramas the BBC were famous for back in the 60’s. 

[Turkish]

On 14/12/2024 at 18:13, badgerx16 said:

Just finished "Day of the Jackal" on SKY and "Black Doves" on Netflix, both excellent spy stories in different ways. Jackal is the more traditional, almost Bond-like, ( Appropriate for starring Lashana Lynch ),  Frederick Forsyth 'spook hunting assassin' story, loosely based on the original. "Balck Doves is more Tarantino-esque, taking itself a little less seriously, but in a way more entertaining, and certainly with more plot twists.

 

Both highly recommended.

watched Black Doves which i thought was great, thanks for the reminder on Day of the Jackal as not seen that yet but was on the list

Started Adolescence last night, brilliant, brilliant stuff. Stephen Graham is always excellent so knew it would be good. I've got a son slightly younger than the character in this so found it gripping. 

[sadoldgit]

Didn’t bother with The Last of Us first series when it came out as not into zombies but after reading several favourable reviews we gave it a binge watch before series 2 started last week. Totally hooked now and the second episode of the new series last night went total GoT. Gripping stuff with an unexpected twist so early on (if you aren’t familiar with the game).

[AlexLaw76]

I watched Danny Dyer's new film - Marching Powder

What a load of tripe that is.

[Winnersaint]

Well I finally succumbed to Yellowstone hype. I watched episode 1 a few weeks back and quickly found out about the origin stories. I went straight to those. I thought 1883 was good. Gritty, violent but actually quite removed from the Yellowstone universe. The only real link was  that the main characters were called Dutton. Overall it was a good yarn which finally came together with the end of Elsa's story.

1923 has spanned two seasons and has Harrison Ford and Helen Mirren in the lead roles. Timothy Dalton and Jerome Flynn make great villains with the former having a penchant for watching prostitutes engage in BSDM twenties style. There are various story arcs beyond the survival of the ranch including that of Teonna Rainwater a native American girl on the run from abuse, both sexual and physical at the hands priests and nuns at an Indian School. Ultimately this is about WW1 vet Spencer Dutton, a post war hunter in Africa suffering from PTSD and his romance with an English woman, Alexandra, who he marries. This is where it gets all a bit far fetched, with their journey back to Montana. The number of disasters that befall them stretch the boundaries of believability somewhat in my opinion. You'd have to watch it to know what I mean and I don't want to spoil it for those that do.

Which brings me back to the present day and the five seasons of Yellowstone. Kevin Costner does what Kevin Costner does as the family patriarch in a western setting. Here I start comparing the series a bit to Dallas, which is unfortunate, but there's enough of a Sopranos/ Godfather vibe and violence underpinning it to put that to one side. Standout performances are by Kelly Reilly who plays Beth Dutton and Cole Hauser as Rip Wheeler. She is actually from South London not the Mid-West which makes her performance all the more remarkable. The last time I was as gobsmacked as this about a UK actor in a US series was when Stephen Graham played Al Capone in Boardwalk Empire.

Anyway, I'm enjoying it as I progress to S2. Like many things that are popular it'll have its haters, simply by being popular. That said, I'm not a great watcher of TV series and it takes something to draw me in like this has done. Whether I stay the course is another matter.