I finished up The Vampire Lestat (on AMC) last night and really enjoyed it, though it didn’t end with much closure (it’s been picked up for a fourth season, which will change titles again to The Queen Of The Damned).
The cast was great, and it wasn’t afraid to be weird–I boggled a bit at the view from inside the bowling ball bag. And it had a real laugh-out-loud moment for me when Lestat mockingly referred to Daniel Molloy as the Vampire Bourdain
Britbox mystery shows are generally well done but can be somewhat tedious and repetitive after a while. While Gone is certainly a member of that genre, I have to say I am enjoying it much more than I had expected. Interesting characters, a good mystery, and fine acting.
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
I’m half way thru season 1. It’s the first new series that I really, really like.
They’ve captured the feeling and spirit of the original series.
Pike is a bit more relaxed then Kirk. Less by the book.
Same with Spock. He’s still logical, but he’s more talkative. He recognizes the need to initiate conversations with the crew.
The engineer is a puzzle. I liked seeing Scotty get excited during a crisis. Hammer is too abrasive. I hope he chills in future episodes.
Count on it.
“All right, but apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, a fresh water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?”
We’re watching Harrow on Hulu. It’s about a forensic pathologist. Each episode is a new crime plus there’s a backstory mystery. We really like it.
In a spirit of retro, I’ve watched a few episodes of the original Perry Mason (which ran from 1957 to 1966). It’s interesting both from the standpoint of some of the plots but also from the idealized world that it depicts.
Perry Mason is the perfect defense attorney who never loses, Della Street is his elegant and supremely competent secretary who’s even willing to go on dangerous evidence-gathering adventures with him, Paul Drake is the handsome gray-haired super-detective sidekick, and the hamburger DA (Hamilton Burger) so consistently loses his cases that it’s a wonder he wasn’t fired years ago! Maybe they felt sorry for him because of his stupid name! 
We binged the final season of Hacks over the weekend.
A lot of stuff happens in just 10 roughly half-hour episodes; it got a little exhausting, honestly.
But it’s still well-written, wonderfully acted, and damn funny. And I found the finale to be unexpectedly powerful and emotional.
I also recommend watching the little behind-the-scenes featurettes after each episode.
I watched all seven episodes of “Life, Larry and The Pursuit of Unhappiness”—what a hoot! Not all great, but some of them were spectacular. Especially the Rosa Parks bus ride, the one with Rob Reiner as George Washington, and the with Obama himself about the origin of the Tan Suit. Special guest stars galore, many of whom made their mark on Curb. Executive produced by Barack and Michelle Obama, and featuring that same unscripted improvisational style that made Curb Your Enthusism such a hit.
We watched the first episode of Life, Larry, and liked it pretty well. We’ll be back for more.
We’ve been nibbling away at Curb for a while. I think it’s a great show, and I’ll make sure I see the whole run, but damn, I don’t think I could take it as an intense binge.
Sorry, wrong thread.
I’ve been re-watching Curb Your Enthusiasm from time to time and the weird thing is although Larry David (the character) is presented as an asshole, I often agree with him about whatever issue has him acting out. (And the show is very cleverly written.)
12 Monkeys series…
I liked the movie but 4 seasons…
Just starting Season 3 and not sure I will continue tho cast is engaging. Time travel is always fraught.
Ending is pretty satisfying.
Just finished season one of A Shop for Killers on Hulu. It’s a fun Korean shoot-em-up that is a little confusing until all is explained in episode 7. We’ll start season 2 after we catch up with some other shows we are watching. A heads up; the dub is a much better translation than the closed captions.
I watched episode 1 of Anna Pigeon last night. And that’s also where I’ll stop.
Agreed. Although I really don’t see how even someone like Larry (the character) would cut a little girl’s doll’s hair even if she agrees, and even if you really believe she understands that it won’t grow back. I mean, come on, man. But then again, I’m more than willing to go along with it to see where it goes.
Did anyone watch The Shards?
It’s based on a book by Bret Easton Ellis, author of American Psycho, and supposed to be a fictionalized version of his (Ellis’) senior year of high school. I went into it knowing little more than that. As soon as it started, there’s a narrator speaking in a manner reminiscent of Patrick Bateman’s inner monologue. Both in terms of the way he speaks and what he’s talking about, namely detailing the minutia off his expensive lifestyle and comparing it to others. This was no different than listening to Bateman go on for 10 minutes about the shade of white that his business cards are and how some other guy’s are an even better shade of white. I made it 10 minutes and turned it off. I’ll fully admit that I didn’t give it a chance. Maybe it’s good or maybe it’s a bad remake of American Psycho set in a high school instead of corporate finance.
For reference, here’s a clip from The Shards. Compare that to the business card scene from American Psycho.
I really liked Curb, though the formula got old after a while: Larry has no filter, he says something that offends somebody, the offended person completely overreacts, causing a chain of events that negatively effects some business or personal venture Larry had been working on. Rinse and repeat.
But yeah, it was funny.
Binged Alley Cats, an animated series by Ricky Gervais. Funny, profane (of course) and poignant. It’s only six episodes and each one is only about 15 minutes long. We watched it all in one sitting. Netflix.