I read Ass Class back when it was originally being searilized but haven’t watched any of the anime (I may have watched the first live-action movie, my memory is fuzzy). With only 47 episodes plus an OVA, the anime surely couldn’t have covered all 177 chapters of the manga.
Turning Point: The Vietnam War over on Netflix.
I hadn’t actually seen a miniseries that added anything substantial beyond Stanley Karnow’s 1983 PBS miniseries (non-apologies extended to Ken Burns), and they all leave out glaring omissions to those of us with personal connections to the war. At a certain point, one accepts that nobody is going to make some on TV that will make it all better.
Regrettably nonetheless is the lack of background into the French colonial period, or the Chinese semi-colonial period (both more a cultural imposition than political), and the postwar American conceit that it was a nationalist re-unification struggle obscured by the bugabear of Marxism (a “re-unification” of a nation where the northern Tonkinese, the Central Highland Tribes, and the Anamese of the Mekong delta barely spoke the same language) thwarted by a doomed earlier American conceit that America could fix anything.
The French were forbad from fighting with anything other than a small, professional force (an imposition set by the US that French boys should stay in Europe proof against the Soviets), and lost at Bien Dien Phu. The Americans, with her touted citizen-soldiers, staged a an almost-identical rematch at Khe Sanh, and won, by cracky; then evacuated. Why not just play football?
Speaking of conceits, the very title “Turning Point” suggests American loss of innocence on the international stage in Vietnam. No - that happened over sixty years earlier when an American enlisted man took the initiative to open fire on a Phillipino nationalist a few days after the Spanish surrender; and the local generals a few miles away and then Washington a few thousand miles away said “sure, let’s roll with it,” no different than how the Empire of Japan did in response to renegade juniors in China in the 1930’s. That was our turning point, and there was nothing of substance said about the Vietnam War on either Dick Cavett’s or William F. Buckley’s show that hadn’t already been said by Mark Twain about the Philippines.
But it’s still worth watching, for the sake of the still-living witnesses before they fade away and their voices too are hijacked, or the old footage that lets the old ghosts have their say as well. No point in being afraid of ghosts - they’ve long since stopped doing whatever harm they were capable of. The only danger ghosts pose is in their being twisted by the living.
There is a v-shaped wall in Washington, inscribed with the names of the American (at least) dead. When it went up it was a monument to the patriotic youth who died because their government lied to them. Almost an anti-monument. Now it’s become a legitimate monument to the patriotic youth who were stabbed in the back by the anti-war Left. Which brings us back to Mark Twain: “Politicians, old buildings, and prostitutes become respectable with age.” And what could be more respectable than unqualified war-mongering?
I watched Tina Fey’s new show The Four Seasons, about three sets of rich Gen X-ers going through midlife crises (with a background of four group vacations). I enjoyed it, even if there weren’t a lot of moments that I found laugh-out-loud funny. Great cast.
I’m on the fence about seeing this. Does it feel bloated? The original movie written/directed/starring Alan Alda was a normal movie run time of a hour and a halfish. This looks to be over 4 hours all in.
Did you see the original?
Argh! I binged three seasons of Yellowjackets, thinking it was close-ended. Turns out the runners have two more seasons planned though none have been green-lighted. I guess I should be happy there is potentially more to come. I don’t know how they are going to out-crazy the first three seasons, though.
I have not seen the movie. Alan Alda has a brief cameo, for what it’s worth.
It has the pacing of a sitcom, not a movie, so eight 30-minute episodes did not seem bloated.
I watched it over the weekend. The separation into the four seasons/vacations helps with the pacing. It feels more like 4 1-hour episodes than 8 half-hour ones.
As someone who does not enjoy awkward comedy/situations, I did skip through a few of the scenes that dragged on a bit too much for my tastes. Overall it was enjoyable.
The Completely Made-Up Adventures of Dick Turpin (Apple TV) I am 5 episodes into this new comedy about a bumbling highway robber in 18th Century England. It’s funny, colorful and a perfect evening appetizer. Noel Fielding doing his best work, I feel, and the supporting actors are perfect. 5 stars out of 5.
I loved it, but as they were filming season 2, Fielding just stopped showing up for work and it had to be cancelled.
We just saw “The Nightman Cometh”, an episode of Always Sunny in Philadelphia that was one of the funniest half-hour sitcom episodes I’ve ever seen.
This scene will forever be one of the scenes I’ve laughed the hardest at.
The show is pretty funny(four seasons seen!), but definitely has some stinker episodes that aren’t that funny.
My wife and I are continuing for sure.
What a shame. I did a deep dive on him because, ‘leaving abruptly for health reasons’ typically means drug rehab, or maybe contract or artistic disputes. But not in this case I think, Noel has been fighting Hepatitis since college and he seems like a completely normal husband and father of two girls. It’s a shame they didn’t get enough of the correct footage to salvage some of season 2 before his health went down hill.
It would be a shame if this project just ends. I hope he comes back.
I’ve never seen Noel Fielding and completely normal in the same sentence before.
His parents were in his words “Hopelessly Bohemian” so I have no doubt he was raised around booze and weed, and he has all the trapping flare of a British famous person, but he comes across to me as introspective and a little bit sad. What I read of his bio says the same. I have no doubt he CAN party, but I doubt he truly enjoys doing that.
The only reason I have avoided Dick Turpin is because I find Noel to be the most annoying thing about The Great British Bake Off.
We’re up to episode 5, which was the funniest episode so far. The daughter’s play was hilarious.
Has anyone watched Good American Family? It’s a true story about a family that adopted a girl with dwarfism only to find out she not a 7 year old girl, but rather a 20+ year old.
I remember reading about the case when it happened and I’d swear we talked about it here, but I can only find a single reference to it.
I think I’m 3 episodes in and so far I’m really liking it.
I also just started Interior Chinatown. I’ve watched the first few episodes and, while it seems to be getting good reviews, I’m not sure what’s going on.
And since I think this is the first time I’ve posted in this thread…I also binged the entirety of Archer in a few months (having never seen it before) and I’m a few seasons into Abbot Elementary. Oh, and The Conners. I stuck that one out on shear momentum.
Edit, for anyone that’s seen Good American Family and didn’t recognize the adoption agent. It was Mary Birdsong.
(Bottom Left)
I was a couple episodes into The Four Seasons before I realized one of the main characters is played by Kerri Kenney-Silver (Top Middle).
Kerri Kenney was also in Superstore, as Mark McKinney’s wife. And I have to admit, I was way too far into Superstore before I realized that was Mark McKinney.
I barely started the Good American Family, but honestly, it cannot compare to the absolute insanity of the true story. I mean, both parents were terrible, crazy people. Natalia Grace was an enigma and a person with issues, and I don’t want to spoil anything, but wow, those parents were wack-a-doo.
I’ve seen clips of that and it’s the one thing that’s keeping me from seeing the show. Too cringey