I am currently watching television programmes

[chump]

https://youtu.be/N0Wn3Eey6dY
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[Cordelia]

Re-watching 'The Night Of', ref. up-thread, because it's just so good.......plot, script, acting, character development, cinematography. Reflects my own (very limited, thankfully) experiences of a large city's police department. I can't find anything not to applaud about this mini-series.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ROl6IGdQnk

[DrEvil]

^^The Night Of is excellent. I haven't seen it so I can't vouch for the quality, but the British original has two seasons, so in case of withdrawal there's a whole second season of fresh plot to watch there. It's called Criminal Justice.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1188927/

Personally I'm really looking forward to Altered Carbon on Netflix (feb. 2), based on the very good cyberpunk/noir book by Richard Morgan.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhFM8akm9a4

For anyone interested in creepypastas (urban legends but on the internet, think Slender Man), there's an anthology show called Channel Zero where each season is based on a different creepypasta. I've only watched a couple of episodes of season one, so not sure yet if it's actually any good.

[stefano]

Watched four episodes of Stranger Things 2, think it's really sub-par. No one is coming to this with any ideas, they were just told to 'make another one' and are throwing together all the thriller clichés on TV Tropes because, well, why would they make a real effort?

Nor was I very impressed with Mindhunter - it's not bad, but not up to the hype at all. The actor playing Holden doesn't work for me, and there's an effort to be funny here and there that doesn't fit. And you can tell they were going to wrap it up in the first series then, when it blew up, decided to stretch it out. I mean the whole narrative arc almost forces a two-episode denouement with them catching the BTK killer... but now we have to wait for next year.

[DrEvil]

I just started watching 'Counterpart'. Only watched the first episode so far but really liked it. Feels like a cold war espionage thriller but with parallel universes.

I didn't particularly care for Mindhunters either. I got bored and didn't even finish it.

My favorite "show" lately is actually an episodic game: 'Life is Strange: Before the Storm' (a prequel to 'Life is Strange'). I enjoyed it so much I'm replaying the original right now, and it's still the best narrative game out there. A perfect mix of teenage angst, time travel and apocalyptic visions, and with a great art style. It's hella good!

[Rory]

Cant find that it's already been mentioned/discussed. Watched this show, Dark, German language series on Neflix

http://m.imdb.com/title/tt5753856/

It's pretty complex, with echoes of Stranger Things, but without most of the warm and fuzzy sentiment. Draws from many genres - intergenerational family dysfunction, Montauk Project style experiments, time travel, nuclear power.

The cast seem pretty competent and the writing is good. Has decent atmosphere and tension, and is very well shot. Worth a look

[DrEvil]

Aaand, I'm replaying Life is Strange again (I know it's a game but we don't have a separate gaming thread, and the TV show is in production anyway, so it's kinda related).

This time I'm intentionally being a dick in all my choices, just to see how the story changes, and I feel horrible. The story beats have so much more impact when they're the consequences of your own decisions rather than just being a passive story on the screen. A person just committed suicide because I failed to talk her out of it (which I know I can since I did so on my previous play-through) and I feel genuinely bad about it. It really feels like it was my fault.

The potential for storytelling like this is pretty damn amazing, and we will probably see more and more of a fusion between traditional passive entertainment and interactive stories like this. At least I hope so because I'm loving it (in a very depressing way in this case).
Just imagine your favorite TV show, but with you in control of the lead character making all the big decisions.

[Cordelia]

Finally finished re-watching 'The Night Of'; prolonged viewing because it’s even better after some time; esp, the ending. The first time I watched it, I noticed a plot hole in the evidence (beneficial to the defense) that seemed much larger with second viewing--anyone else?. The Rikers Island scenes were more brutal than I remembered, but subdued by the painterly Chiaroscuro-like cinematography of the ruthless killer/protective inmate, Freddy, and of his cell ............




..........to look strikingly beautiful, almost like a Rembrandt.



Can’t think of any actor or character that didn’t fit. (I remembered Jeannie Berlin, who played the seasoned prosecutor, from her terrific early-career performance as the tragic/comic abandoned newly-wed in the original ‘The Heartbreak Kid’).

Netflix finally released ‘Taboo’ in dvd w/a ‘short’ wait time, so looking forward to them sending it.......eventually.

Don’t understand the appeal of ‘Stranger Things’..........got about 5 minutes into the 2nd episode before falling asleep.

[DrEvil]

I'm almost done with "The Terror", based on the Dan Simmons book of the same name, about Franklin's lost expedition to the Arctic, attempting to find the North-West Passage. Ships sail north. Ships get stuck in the ice. Monster starts killing people. I'm really enjoying it.

I really love the way it conveys how large the world was back then. In 1847 Franklin's wife asks the admiralty to launch a rescue expedition, and they promise her that if they haven't heard from them by 1850 they will.

Also, Silicon Valley just started season five and is as usual excellent, this time without T.J. Miller (aka Fat Freddy. Seriously, if they ever film the Freak Brothers they have to cast him as Fat Freddy).

The Expanse season three also just started and is still the best pure scifi show available.

And finally, Westworld season two starts airing the 22nd this month. Unfortunately they're still doing the whole time-jump tango, which I personally thought was annoying and them being clever for the sake of being clever, but early reviews are promising.

[JackRiddler]

Counterpart was great and gripping stuff until the second-to-last episode. It improved again in the finale but it was beautifully moody and perfect enough that I doubt I'll want to see them try a redux.

I'd love to see a Deutschland 83 second season. I heard they wanted to do Deutschland 86. (It will never be as good, of course.)

[DrEvil]

Damn, completely forgot about Deutschland 83. That should keep me going until Westworld starts.

[MacCruiskeen]

Many thanks to whoever recommended Detectorists here, way back. I just watched the third and final series, a really beautiful thing.

A very interesting, very thoughtful tribute here:

https://corsepresentblog.wordpress.com/ ... s/#more-28

Theme song:



Top comment under that video:

Hjard Kuk
8 Months ago

This is the type of show to make you feel okay about the future

True, and not in a dumb way either.

[Rory]

Watching Wild Wild Country. Fascinating footage and insights from the folk on the ground at the time.

Excellent television. Well worth a look

[stillrobertpaulsen]

I'd love to see a Deutschland 83 second season. I heard they wanted to do Deutschland 86. (It will never be as good, of course.)

I agree completely! Deutschland 83 was absolutely riveting. I had heard about a Deutschland 86 and Deutschland 89 had been conceived. We'll see if they get made or not.

[LolaB]

Thanks for turning me on to the Detectorists, MacC. I just finished the 2nd series and absolutely loved it. Got a copy from the local library. It's awesomely funny, deep, beautifully shot and yes, it does make me feel good about the future of mankind.