I still haven't seen that one, but want to! I've heard good things, and that it also ranks up there as one of the best poker movies.
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1482we-heh-heh-heh-hehllllll, the second half of this season was fucking bonkers. i definitely did not see that major twist coming, but obviously should have. there were a couple things that were beyond super convenient that require massive amounts of suspension of disbelief, but overall was very cleverly done. kinear ruled in his role. charlotte ritchie was fantastic. really excellent semi-departure from the formula they had established in the previous 3 seasons. i do recommend it, and like i said, please stick with the slow beginning, it pays off.TC wrote: 18/02/23, 06:50:19For some reason, Netflix has seen fit to release the fourth season of You (starring Penn Badgley, for search purposes) in two halves only weeks apart. I have no explanation for this behavior. But, we did finish the first half of season four last night. I knew it was going to be a bit different, both by necessity and because of the way they left last season, and I was right. This season - at least, the first half - is set up in a pretty meta way to be more of a “who dunnit” where Jonathan (neé Joe) has to figure out who’s fucking with him by killing his social circle. I made a prediction early on and turned out to be wrong, but it seems to be setting up the back half to be pretty bonkers. I watched the trailer for the second half and wtf indeed. For the first half, I counted 1 dong with Prince Albert as far as nudity, and one dismemberment as far as violence, and those are in the same episode. Most of the other deaths appear off screen so there is really very little of either in this season so far, which is quite surprising. Still, it is somehow working. I will say the first episode felt like it was taking an eternity to get going. Badgley’s narration seems to drone on and on as he’s explaining what happened, where he is, what he’s doing, etc. It’s too much. Had to be like a 20-minute monologue. But after that, it does get going. So hang in there.TC wrote: 30/10/21, 08:42:49 You (Netflix) - i thought we talked about this, but turns out trying to search such a common word is a nightmare, so just putting it here. We finished S3 a couple days ago. I really liked the first two seasons but was kind of wondering where s3 was going to go. Turns out worries were unfounded. It was a pretty fucking crazy season, and i didn’t see that ending coming. I know people compare it to Dexter, like it’s a CW-ified Dexter, but I didn’t watch that show so can’t comment. What i can tell you is the show is damn entertaining.
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1483finished the second and final season of this show, and while there was too much time spent on the irrelevant side plot, it was still a fantastic season. this was a great show, very intense and enjoyable. and there are no happy endings to be seen here. very dark, very real show. if you know anything about the legal process, it does require some suspension of disbelief to allow it to connect with you, as lots of shortcuts taken in that regard, but still - great show. recommended, if hard drama is up your alley.TC wrote: 29/01/21, 12:45:08got caught up on this. holy shit is it crazy. i don't mean "unpredictable" really, as you could see this was going to not go well, but it's like cranston's character was handed a shovel and told to see how deeply he could dig himself a hole. and Michael Stuhlbarg's character (rothstein on boardwalk empire) is fantastic. he's such an underrated, menacing actor. or at least, he plays menacing very well. hope to continue to see him more. not sure how many more episodes there are this season but i'm positive this is all going to blow up in cranston's face.TC wrote:Your Honor - Bryan Cranston's new SHO show. started watching it, 2.5 episodes in and it's good. he plays a huge piece of shit that has a very good reason for being a piece of shit (where have i seen that before?). his son is a giant fucking dummy, playing the wildcard. i can't believe they haven't had certain conversations, or at least we weren't privy to them if they happened. some next-level assumptions required of the audience so far. but like i said, it's good and enjoyable. great to see the guy who played arnold rothstein on boardwalk empire in another fantastic role. odd to see him cursing so freely, since arnold almost never did, but he is so goddamn menacing every time he's on camera. can't see this situation resolving well for anyone involved.
Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]
1484The 12th Victim - four-part mini doc about Caril Fugate and Charlie Starkweather. subject is how she was railroaded and convicted without evidence as taking part of the spree willingly. i have always found her very believable, and this series - based on the book of the same name - only underscores that. this poor lady. even when she was up for a pardon, the pardon board was still a joke. i don't understand why they continue to screw this lady. she's still alive, although having had a stroke cannot talk very well and is just rotting in her florida apartment. she didn't deserve the life she was handed. it's a prime example of how the media creates the narrative that, even back then, everyone just believes to the point that it becomes truth. very sad. first couple episodes are kind of irritating how they were done, dramatized, and drawn out, and for some reason they try to "age" the voiceovers of old transcripts as though they were recorded at the time (silliness). but once they get past the starkweather trial, it settles down.
Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]
1485Stalker - i have been waiting for this to appear on streaming so i could check it out. not sure how i hadn't managed to see it yet, given how much it's discussed and praised. it did finally appear on streaming (although "free with ads" fucking blows) so we watched it over the weekend. it wasn't at all what i expected or thought it was. feels like one of those films you could watch 100 times and take something new/different away from it each time. i loved it and what i believe it was saying, especially when you take the turmoil surrounding it's making as well as the political context of when it was made into account. it's really quite staggering, and not something i feel like we saw again for a very long time. thematically, it kind of reminded me of mother! in a way, although that was obviously much more heavy-handed and not really something i want to watch a bunch of times. this, we spent an hour discussing it as soon as it was over and, days later, i'm still thinking about it. i don't really understand where the title comes from (why he's called a "stalker"), but guess i don't really have to. it really is one of those desert island films that deserves all the hype, IMHO. definitely want to purchase and watch several more times, without all the IBS ads. i know i'm late to the game here, but someone should have insisted i watch this long ago. for shame, people.
Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]
1486Knock At The Cabin - new M. Night Shyamalan film with a really dumb name. Showed up on Peacock last night so checked it out, as it starts the lead investigator from Mindhunters (RIP), Dave Bautista, and Rupert Grint, who was excellent on Servant. So yeah, while MNS generally tends to infuriate me, Servant was good, The Visit was good, so gave this a shot. It’s apparently based on a slightly better-named book from five years ago, which I haven’t read, so can’t compare to the source material. As I understand it, there have been some significant changes made, particularly to the ending, but shrug. It’s impossible to discuss this film without spoilers, so here you go.
Bautista is excellent in this as the soft-spoken Leonard. He’s the highlight for sure. I think the whole film falls apart without him being who he is. So there’s that, I guess. Otherwise, again - pretty meh from me here. I assume it’s intended to make you think about what you would do in this situation, but that lesson probably only really lands with otherwise the story is just kind of far-fetched and doesn’t carry the intended weight. My recommendation, watch Servant instead.
Bautista is excellent in this as the soft-spoken Leonard. He’s the highlight for sure. I think the whole film falls apart without him being who he is. So there’s that, I guess. Otherwise, again - pretty meh from me here. I assume it’s intended to make you think about what you would do in this situation, but that lesson probably only really lands with otherwise the story is just kind of far-fetched and doesn’t carry the intended weight. My recommendation, watch Servant instead.
Re: Recent movie/TV playlist [titles without stand-alone thread]
1487Shrinking - new Jason Siegel / Harrison Ford vehicle at Apple TV+. Ten half-hour episodes centering around Siegel’s psychiatrist character in Ford’s practice whose wife died a year ago and he was left to raise their 16-year old daughter. Starts with him being a total train wreck, having gone numb for the last year, and the whole story is a redemption arc for him, with both his daughter and his friends, let alone his patients. Some really funny moments happen - mostly toward the end of the season for me - but even so, a really engaging, well-told story. Yes, yet another ATV+ show about a psychiatrist - that’s at least 3 by my count - which is really pretty fucking weird, given the percentage of total original programming that represents for them. But, still very good. Could be subtitled “Jason Siegel is out of breath”, as he delivers 90% of his lines like he just ran into the room. It’s really quite inexplicable and uncalled for, also never addressed, like the other characters somehow don’t notice. It’s a weird choice and once you see it you can’t unsee it. Ford is good as an older guy trying to cope with early stages of Parkinson’s and his own shit. Really, the whole cast is good. Setup feels a bit stiff early on but have patience and stick with it, it pays off. I enjoyed it. Don’t know if it’s getting more seasons or not, but easily could.
