Whatcha Been Watching?

[Rhaegyr]

First time I watched The Wire I watched it with subtitles on which helped my understanding greatly - had exactly the same trouble as you did.

Along with Twin Peaks it went on to be the best TV I've ever seen, can't rate it highly enough.

[Truk_Kurt]

First time I watched The Wire I watched it with subtitles on which helped my understanding greatly - had exactly the same trouble as you did.

Along with Twin Peaks it went on to be the best TV I've ever seen, can't rate it highly enough.

Yeah, I started using subtitles after the first episode but still had trouble understanding it all.

[Alex79]

I've been watching the Boiling Point series. It's good. I'm not sure it's as good as the film, which was non-stop, high intensity all of the time, but it is very good. I'm on episode three now and just realised it guest-stars Trevor from GTA V!

I had my eye on this, might check it out seeing as it's only 5 episodes.

Four, actually - just watched the last one tonight. It's exceptional television. Did you watch the movie, because I'd highly recommend watching it first if you've not. There's also the 20 minute short film that the movie was based on with most the same cast which is also really very good. That was also still on iPlayer last time I checked.

So just in case you've not seen any of them:

Short film (iPlayer)
Movie (was on Netflix, not sure now)
4 part series on iPlayer.

[Truk_Kurt]

Yeah, I've seen the movie and loved it

[markfm007]

Definitely want subtitles on for The Wire. It does take a while to click as it throws a lot of characters and concepts at you and expects you to follow along. I think it's normal to miss a few things as you go along. It's also a lot about build up, watching the everyday goings on of the characters you're following, the police, the drug dealers etc. Most of the payoffs happen in the last few episodes of each season. I love it, have rewatched it a few times now and it feels like a new show every time. I understand why some fall off though.

[Tolkientaters]

I watched Killers of the Flower Moon and it's an extremely well made bleak tragedy where you're constantly hoping something will change while things just continually get worse.

It also seemed to forgo a lot of the flourishes and exaggerations you see in most biopics/historical titles which did add more weight to the horror of what happened. It's a fantastic movie that's definitely worth checking out, but be prepared for a bleak 3 and a half hours.

I did learn that it omitted some pretty significant details to make the main character more sympathic, which isn't great.

[Alex79]

Ah I didn't realise this was out yet! Want to watch this.

[Tolkientaters]

Just saw Priscilla and it was fantastic, it flew by for me and I thought they was another half of the movie left when it ended (which was dumb in retrospect).

[Alex79]

Couple of clearly big budget new 'prestige' anime series have recently hit Netflix. Pluto and Blue Eye Samurai.

I've not watched Pluto yet, but speaking as someone who's never been in to anime before, the first episode of Blue Eye Samurai was fantastic. Beautiful, violent, good story - I would recommend jumping on it because if the rest of the series is as good as the first episode this is something special.

Incidentally, both are scoring very well on Rotten Tomatoes, with Pluto and Blue Eye Samurai currently rated at 96% and 100% respectively. Wow!

And the best part - they're not 894 episodes long, which is what has always put me off anime in the past. I think they're around eight episodes apiece.

[Truk_Kurt]

The Royal Hotel
Went to see this at the cinema yesterday. It was a good thriller set in the Australian outback where two backpacking Canadian girls take a job as bartenders at a bar in a middle of nowhere mining community and things don't go to plan. A film full of tension from the off which reminded me a lot of the film Green Room if you've seen that. Has the actress who plays Ruth in Ozark in it (Julia Garner) and Hugo Weaver. 4/5

[Alex79]

Sounds interesting, I re-watched Green Room a couple of weeks ago coincidentally, I thought it was still good. Will keep an eye out for this when it comes to home release.

[JaySevenZero]

Couple of clearly big budget new 'prestige' anime series have recently hit Netflix. Pluto and Blue Eye Samurai.

I've not watched Pluto yet, but speaking as someone who's never been in to anime before, the first episode of Blue Eye Samurai was fantastic. Beautiful, violent, good story - I would recommend jumping on it because if the rest of the series is as good as the first episode this is something special.

Incidentally, both are scoring very well on Rotten Tomatoes, with Pluto and Blue Eye Samurai currently rated at 96% and 100% respectively. Wow!

And the best part - they're not 894 episodes long, which is what has always put me off anime in the past. I think they're around eight episodes apiece.

I've watched Pluto and loved every episode but simply in terms of the animation itself, Blue Eye Samurai is one another level, it's simply stunning! I found it similar to Arcane in that it has a very distinctive style that immediately makes it stand out from the crowd.

[duskvstweak]

I started King of the Hill recently. I never watched it growing up, since I didn't get the humor when I was younger and found it dull compared to the Simpsons, Futurama and Family Guy at the time. But now I'm old and worldly, so the humor is landing for me! It's been very funny and has had me cracking up a bunch. So, I'll tell you what, it's good.

[Truk_Kurt]

Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One
Another great action film from Cruise and McQuarrie. That end sequence on the train is up there as a series highlight. I did have to pause half way through to read up on the plot as I was getting confused but that’s my only criticism. I’d have it as my second favourite after Fallout 4.5/5

[JaySevenZero]

Mission Impossible Dead Reckoning Part One
Another great action film from Cruise and McQuarrie. That end sequence on the train is up there as a series highlight. I did have to pause half way through to read up on the plot as I was getting confused but that’s my only criticism. I’d have it as my second favourite after Fallout 4.5/5

I enjoyed this a lot too and I'm really keen to see how it culminates with part two next year.

[JaySevenZero]

After Netflix's recent One Piece series did a blindin' job of adapting Eiichiro Oda's manga I now have an interest in seeing if this live action adaptation follows suit with a more faithful version than the previous 2010 film was.

[Alex79]

Oh god, it can't be any worse. The 2010 film was one of the most boring things I've ever sat through in a cinema!

[markfm007]

I've been watching Better Call Saul, starting season 5 now. I've loved it a lot more than I was expecting. It's a less action packed show than Breaking Bad, but I've found myself more invested in and caring for the characters. Jimmy aka Saul and Mike are fantastic, adding so much depth to their characters. The writing is superb, a great mix of humour, sweetness and sadness. The new characters are all fantastic - Kim, Howard, Chuck etc. It's a great companion piece to Breaking Bad, both narratively and as a show that offers similar qualities but with a different feeling. Personally I like it quite a lot more, and am really excited and a little scared to see how it all wraps up.

[Alex79]

I've been watching Better Call Saul, starting season 5 now. I've loved it a lot more than I was expecting. It's a less action packed show than Breaking Bad, but I've found myself more invested in and caring for the characters. Jimmy aka Saul and Mike are fantastic, adding so much depth to their characters. The writing is superb, a great mix of humour, sweetness and sadness. The new characters are all fantastic - Kim, Howard, Chuck etc. It's a great companion piece to Breaking Bad, both narratively and as a show that offers similar qualities but with a different feeling. Personally I like it quite a lot more, and am really excited and a little scared to see how it all wraps up.

It's a very slow show, almost too slow in some of the early seasons, but it really builds and builds towards the end and has a really satisfying conclusion. I don't think you'll be disappointed. I re-watched Breaking Bad followed by the final season of Better Call Saul earlier this year and really enjoyed it.

[Truk_Kurt]

Watched the new film from David Fincher 'The Killer' which has launched on netflix. I'm a big David Fincher fan with nearly all the films of his I've seen so far featuring in my favourite films. I came away from The Killer quite disappointed though. It felt very by the numbers for this type of film, not doing anything differently really to other similarly themed films. It was perfectly watchable but just felt so dull. Seems to be receiving quite a mixed reception.