But Is It on Netflix? - Streaming Video Service Thread: Hulu, Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, Disney+, Peacock, YouTube TV, AT+T Watch, Philo, Playstation Vue, HBO Max, HBO Now, Facebook Live and many more

Scott and I have basically had the same evening on Netflix. "Sure, I'll give the Pop Tarts thing a go, just out of curiosity. Jesus, what even is this? It's like a children's film, but there are jokes about Jake Lalanne in it? Back to 1920s Lahore we go."

"Back to 1920s Lahore we go."

yay! a MUCH better choice. i totally agree.

OMG, you guys have to watch Down the Rabbit Hole on Netflix! My new favorite movie. I kinda never wanted it to end. Don't even watch a trailer. It's better to be surprised. You'll thank me in the end.

The first episode of John Mulaney's show (kind of the talk-show equivalent of his Sack Lunch Bunch kids' show) was fun.

i agree with Chris C. in the comments section of the review for Unfrosted in the NYT:

Chris C
Chicago, IL3h ago

"Unfrosted" has been widely described as one of the worst movies of the *decade*.

To find out for myself, I watched it. My jaw was on the floor. It truly is the worst movie I've ever seen. It's so *lazy.* It's like Seinfeld rolled in every morning at 10, talked through his scenes, did no second takes, then left at 4. Even his narration was the flat, affect-less reading of a blasé high schooler reading aloud to the class.

I was amazed that not a single joke made me laugh. It wasn't so unfunny that I was laughing for the wrong reasons; it was so unfunny that I found myself *silently studying it.* I was oddly enthralled by the utter blandness and poor quality of the writing, acting, and filming. I don't want to give the impression I was entertained -- merely fascinated.

I recommend watching the film yourself, then reading this review. No offense to Ms. Nicholson... I guess it's brave to be the only professional critic in the industry who gave the movie a good review. Truly baffling. Had she watched this after waking up from surgery? For the life of me, I honestly can't imagine a single person watching this movie and calling it a "Critic's Choice." This review is almost as fascinating as the movie.

but fuck Kurt!

Kurt Pickard
Kurt Pickard
Murfreesboro, TN2h ago

"Unfrosted" is a true delight, especially for those of us who grew up during that era. For those who didn't, I can see where some of the nuanced humor gets lost. No bloody violence, foul language, sex or computer graphics. The casting is superb and we need to keep a special eye on Eleanor Sweeney. Everyone in the house can lean back in the recliner and enjoy some good natured fun. How uncommon is that these days? Jerry Seinfeld hit this movie out of the park and should be nominated for an Oscar's Oscar. My only complaint is that Larry David was noticeably absent.

seriously though i read that review and was like OMG jerry paid off the Times! it was so weird. granted, i could only make it thru 25 minutes of this movie.

you ever watch one of those movies where you aren't really sure if people are actually in the same room with each other...

If you have a taste for Conan O’Brien*, his new 4-episode travel show on Max, Conan O'Brien Must Go, is very well-done & funny.

*I generally only like him in small doses myself, so I was presently surprised by how much I enjoyed this…

you ever watch one of those movies where you aren't really sure if people are actually in the same room with each other...

Marvel Cinematic Universe, Phase 4 & Beyond (and a chance to change your vote)

Equalizer 1 - had high hopes because Denzel + John Wick sounds like an A+ combo but it dragged on a bit, had a lot of very stupid shots zooming in on Denzel's eye while he calculated murder times (it reminded me of Sherlock, the worst British show I've ever seen) and the last 20 minutes were over the top in a pretty boring way. I give it half a Man on Fire.

Still definitely going to watch #2 and maybe #3 at some point.

We watched the first episode of Sugar last night, and I just hated it. The editing and camerawork was distracting and irritating, like a constant fly buzzing around your head. Shakycam from ridiculous perspectives, sudden changes in POV for no reason, it seemed amateurish. I know that there's a big twist coming, and I know what the big twist is, but it doesn't excuse this kind of nonsense. It is always nice to see Colin Farrell, though.

"Still definitely going to watch #2 and maybe #3 at some point."

#3 is worst. so much so that i started watching it one night and realized that i had blocked out my memory of already seeing it. or it was just so unmemorable that i forgot. its bad though. that much i can remember. and very very hokey. its s shame too. such a winning concept.

Legend of Vox Machina looks bad.

― Wordle Stephen Curry II (Leee), Wednesday, January 19, 2022 1:05 PM bookmarkflaglink

I think I'm right, first three episodes are pretty dire.

i watched the 2018 movie Gwen on Shudder. so sad! bleak and sad! its not even a horror movie. just bleak and sad! so, if you are in the mood for bleak and sad, have i got the movie for you.

Black Twitter doc series on Hulu is v good imo

If you enjoyed the movie HE NEVER DIED, starring Henry Rollins as Cain, yes the one from the Bible, you'll probably enjoy the sequel, SHE NEVER DIED, starring Olunike Adeliyi as ...another character from the Bible. It's on Tubi.

Those are really good! Hoping for another in that world. Would put them with The Prophecy and Tremors for lower-budget greatness.

Watched Nikki Glaser's latest stand-up special on Max last night — it's called Someday You'll Die, and has some really excellent jokes about wishing her pregnant friends would miscarry, dying of esophageal cancer, suicidal ideation...also a really good shot at anti-trans female comedians (left unnamed). I laughed a lot.

watched A Bluebird in My Heart on Shudder. not a horror movie at all! i really should watch a horror movie on Shudder instead of the not-horror movies i've been watching. i did watch Blood and Black Lace on Shudder last week. i figure its about time that i re-watch classic films that i have only seen on VHS 30+ years ago. especially pretty pretty Bava movies. so pretty.

Is anyone else watching Sugar?

Because what the actual fuck at that twist?

Bodkin - was hoping for "Irish Deadloch" but it's more "Only Murders but not funny"

"Dinner with the Parents" on Amazon's Freevee is a loose American reboot of the UK series "Friday Night Dinner." Great cast including Carol Kane. If you know Friday Night Dinner, it's funny to see what has been Americanized (Neighbor Donny: "JANE, you are looking fine to-NIGHT")

Scavengers Reign cancelled by WB but first season picked up by Netflix and if it does well they'll apparently greenlight a second season

I will rep for TOKYO VICE, especially the second half of S1 and the first half of S2. I wish the gaijin journalist and mama-san had switched protagonist / supporting character roles, but still.

Season 5 of the 100 - not good, but Bellamy turning into Keanu Reeves is pretty lol

I love this Conan O'Brien Must Go travel show on HBO Max.

I was just talking to someone about The 100 this morning. I had no idea it was an SF show; I thought it was about 100 people with superpowers or something.

The 400 used that premise.

The 4400

I looked up the 4400 today, remember it starting as a poor man's X-Files and going completely to hell but it doesn't seem to be streaming anywhere.

Maria and I are almost done with season 3 of The Expanse and i'm watching Bosch as well. among other things...

also in the bad sci-fi realm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xWGbfQOFN60

xp. Yes, thanks for catching that. I watched the first version, but missed the remake series. Was that any good?

Eureka (on Netflix) was a goofy sci-fi show that I thought held up over its run. Good cast, fun scripts, etc.

I watched the trailer for Dark Matter on AppleTV+…. which is like a different take on Constellation, another show that just ended (and mercifully canceled) on AppleTV+? Why did they green light the same concept twice??

I don’t plan to watch it unless someone comes along and tells me it’s brilliant

Sometimes I see a trailer for a new futuristic psychological thriller mystery type show along those lines and realize what a gift it was to get six seasons of just a straightforward epic hard sci show like The Expanse.

Are any of these worth watching?

https://www.looper.com/680590/sci-fi-shows-that-fans-of-the-expanse-should-watch-next/

I too miss the Expanse.

Dark Matter was a good ensemble show. I liked the cast. Took me a while to recognize the female lead in her new role on The Rookie. Would recommend, though big caveat that it was hitting its stride when cancelled, so is incomplete.

Of that Looper list, haven’t seen Lost in Space or Altered Carbon, would like to eventually. Heard both are good.

Killjoys had a complete run, would recommend. More in the Firefly caper vein than a hard sci-fi show, but had a good arc over the series. Forgot about Defiance, which I liked, though can’t remember how/if it completes.

That list doesn’t mention Falling Skies, which had a decent, complete run.

I second Dark Matter, enjoyable ride despite the cancelation.

Discovery is pretty awful, I'm a Trek diehard and had to stop watching it.

Alerted Carbon has a great first season, but a boring second.

On the last rewatch Galactica's back half was better than I remembered, possibly because a couple of things that seemed terrible at first could be laughed at.

Only made it two episodes into Altered Carbon, it felt very "horny basic cable."

pgwp is talking about the new Apple show Dark Matter (based on the mediocre Blake 'Wayward Pines' Crouch book) and not the one where all the people wake up on a spaceship with their memories wiped xps

I second Dark Matter, enjoyable ride despite the cancelation.

Is Dark Matter canceled yet? I know Constellation is. I made it through one episode of Constellation and couldn't muster any sympathy for anyone (except Pullings, obviously) or any interest in the supposed mystery. I suspect Dark Matter is exactly the same. The other "what the fuck is happening" show on Apple we have now bailed is The Big Door Prize.

I'm finally getting around to Ripley, and I have mixed feelings about it. I think it's actually not very good in a lot of ways:

- The performances have a distinct odour of not having been directed much if at all - the actors left to their own devices. Dialogue is flat, almost like rehearsal level. Many long pauses. The only real life and brio comes occasionally from Scott who is of course a huge ham, and his mischievousness is like a breath of fresh air when he decides to deploy it

- The editing, which is not something I usually notice, is just very lugubrious. There are scenes which are clearly written as comedy but which the editing undercuts. The scene with the postman and the stairs and the suitcases, for instance, when Ripley first arrives in town, which some brisk editing could have rendered quite funny, falls kind of flat, despite Scott's best efforts

- The dialogue is just not that interesting. Do they ever talk about anything? Maybe this is how certain rich people are. But like... do the characters have an inner life? Hard to say apart from Ripley, whose inner life is conveyed through some hugely telegraphed moments of abasement

But here's the thing... I keep watching it. Why? I think it's two things. 1, there is just an incredible power to a story of a bad person doing bad things and whether they'll get away with it or not. 2, the PHOTOGRAPHY, FUCKING HELL. I have never seen ANYTHING like this. It's overwhelming on a level of like 3-D Imax or something. The razor-sharp precision of every shot is breathtaking. The ripples on the water. The bricks of a wall. And certain shots quite deliberately ape still photography of the period, so you feel as though you're actually inside a Vivian Maier photograph. It's just wild. I keep watching mainly so I can luxuriate in it. And the leaden editing actually helps here - lets me soak in each shot a little more.

New streamer up: Kino Lorber finally launched its own service.

https://kinofilmcollection.com/

of course i want to pay for it but boy do i ignore my mubi and ovid and criterion....they get lonesome. feel like a lot of stuff floats around all three as well. and now four. but i am a sucker for such presentation. i am a born clicker.

Is Dark Matter canceled yet?

The SyFy show from about 7 years ago is, not the current Apple TV show. The former was a Canadian ensemble with some middling production value but a lot of fun and want afraid to push the plot.

Agree with you, Leee, s1 of altered carbon was very entertaining but I tried twice to get into s2 and just couldn’t.

Xps I never saw the tv show but I loved the Wayward Pines books

The other "what the fuck is happening" show on Apple we have now bailed is The Big Door Prize.

Only way this would be acceptable is if it's an adaptation of John Prine/Iris DeMent's "In Spite Of Ourselves."

xpost to Tracer Hand. I’ve come round to the view that it’s really good. The spaciousness of the photography relates nicely to the spaciousness of the dialogue and indeed the sense that people are thinking before they speak more generally. this creates a great feeling of the exterior photography relating directly to their interior spaces in a way i’m not sure i’ve seen done as effectively before.

the photography is marvellous, like you say. i love the way it’s able toe recognise the variable moods of the med. it’s not the sun sex and sybaritism of the classic view. it’s more the med that would swallow entire fleets of ships with its storms. “wind dark” indeed.

it’s also a series that necessarily loves to dwell on people’s faces, necessarily. and they’re all up to it. i think you’re harsh on Scott being a ham - i think he’s a tremendous actor, probably one of the best around! he can convey a lot with body shape and face.

two caveats. he walks like he’s poo’d himself (this is consistent across roles) and he’s too built/swole in the torso. maybe that’s just a necessary hazard of being a modern day male actor.

but no, love it basically. great work with italian statuary and art. done with absolute relish.