2025 Rolling Streaming Media Thread

movies, television, cable, games, videos, podcasts, music, ANYTHING streaming on ANY streaming platform.

i just want to know what people are seeing/watching/hearing and what they think. and i want to go to one place. in a casual way. so sue me!

but no DVDs or movies you see when you go to THE CINEMA. that way the SERIOUS film people can have their own fun. there is a film sub-baord. make it a thing again!

if you think something should have its own thread, start one! its a free countr....oh wait. if enough people love it or hate it they can talk about it there.

and there you have it.

i just wish i had remembered that the Roku Sports channel was showing the X Games all weekend. I love the X Games! oh well. i'll watch the reruns.

also, Go Eagles.

okay, i'm going back to Chopped. the one chef who had cooked for Kissinger and Lucian Freud had one whole finger of her glove filled with blood and she was still cooking. Ewwwww!

I watched the four episodes of The Pitt that are currently available on Max and they were OK, but I don't know if I'm gonna remember to watch the next one when it pops up on Thursday. ER + 24 = not as genius an idea as its creators thought.

I actually think The Pitt is getting richer as it goes - which is not what my expectation was. There were definitely moments in the first couple episodes that felt like clumsy track-laying (eg, when will the victims of the school shooting show up?). But now onto episode 4 I’m getting more comfortable with the characters and I think Noah Wylie is really holding it down.

Noah Wyle should have kept going with The Librarians

I watched a couple of the documentary shorts that were nominated for Oscars. Two that I watched by coincidence made a *perfect* double feature and a highly recommend watching them back to back in this order:

First, THE ONLY GIRL IN THE ORCHESTRA, on Netflix - about the first woman to play in the NY Philharmonic starting back in the 60s, on the occasion of her retirement after 50+ years. She is so humble and knows her role as a bassist in the orchestra.

Its made all the more compelling if you then switch over to YouTube to watch INSTRUMENTS OF A BEATING HEART, about a second grader in a Tokyo school who *desperately* wants to be in her school band as a percussionist. She is so adorable and the doc is very compelling, especially for something as mundane as small children doing a school assembly performance.

Watching both docs takes less than an hour and they both make the other richer and more inspiring. A real highlight of my day.

thought about watching Gladiator 2 on Paramount+ but then i make the mistake of watching the whole trailer and it all just looks so phony baloney with the cgi and everyone's face is all digitally smoothed and colored...bleh. i kept thinking that one guy was harry pooper. the young guy. i have no idea who he is. he looks like harry pooper. the only people i even recognize are denzel and the mandalorian. i had no idea who pedro pascal was until he was seemingly everywhere and world famous. i guess after mandalorian. i didn't even know he was in game of thrones until the other day. i didn't watch narcos. maybe he got famous from that. he must have switched agents at some point because he was in stuff for years and years before narcos.

He got famous for the Last of Us.

really? that seems so recent. i thought it was star wars people who made him famous. i did not love the last of us. it did make me watch the walking dead again though. with maria and cyrus. that was fun. until negan shows up then i stopped.

Will def watch that Japanese short, thanks.

I liked Chopped best when I used to watch it at the gym with the sound off, much more relaxing without their dumb music cues.

Pascal was def famous before The Last of Us. I first heard of him when he was on The Mandalorian -- never saw it bc I don't care about Star Wars, but it seemed like a big deal at the time. But he was also on Game of Thrones before that.

Which you already said! (I was skimming too fast.)

Pascal attracted attention for being on Game of Thrones, then he was on Narcos on Netflix. Then the Star Wars thing was sold as "starring that guy from Game of Thrones and Narcos!" And by The Last of Us, people knew his name.

Watched Alien Romulus. It’s well-made but doesn’t really add anything new to the franchise. Just feels like a rehash.

he's not young. his credits start in 1999. talk about working it. good for him. he seems nice. not that exciting to me but a lot of leading men now seem generic to me. hollywood leading men. maybe its easier to CGI someone if they have a really normal face. at least he has an interesting backstory what with his family being a part of the Castilian-Basque aristocracy in Chile. and then...tragedy struck...

"Two years before Pascal's birth, the democratically elected socialist government of Salvador Allende was overthrown by General Augusto Pinochet, leading to the country becoming a military dictatorship.[12] Both of Pascal's parents were listed as enemies of the state by the Pinochet regime and the family eventually fled Chile when he was nine months old,[12] after seeking refuge in the Venezuelan embassy in Santiago for six months."

x-post

I haven't watched Romulus. I'd probably like it. I don't care if its a lesser Alien movie. They all kinda are after the first three. Phil Tippett, the director of one of the greatest American movies of the 21st century, Mad God, did the stop motion rat in Alien: Romulus. HOW WAS THE RAT, PGWP?

The rat was nice.

It’s definitely not a disappointing movie - it’s exciting and tense and all that. You’ll like it if you like Alien movies.

I watched about half of Romulus and I don't even remember a rat. Maybe it showed up later.

i should watch it. i still haven't watched furiosa for some reason. now that its on netflix.

i would see some of these at the movies but the guy who bought the local theater is trumpy. its unfortunate. its good that someone took on the old heap of a movie house but on the other hand... i don't want to go there. they showed 2000 Mules there.

Pascal's real starmaking turn was being in a viral gif with Nic Cage IIRC

all of a sudden everyone knew his name. it seemed like it anyway. like olde-tyme hollywood. he probably got invited to a lot of swanky parties. does he have to hang out with george clooney now at Lake Como. with matt damon.

i'm watching american football right now and i like the ad where doja cat lurks around a taco bell.

i still haven't watched furiosa for some reason.

Very, verrrrry skippable. (But I am the only person on earth who hated Fury Road, so.)

oh i liked fury road. i like movies that never stop moving. that have forward motion.

i know its easy to make fun of tom brady but he is such a nothing broadcaster. he's no tony romo! he's so meepy.

Romulus is EXTREMELY disappointing; it’s a load of crap.

post malone/shane gillis beer ad is a big noooooooo. i never want to see shane gillis's grinning head.

but by what standard, james? is it even good as pulpy horror fun? cuz i'm fine with that.

my standards aren't very high anymore. but i do stop watching stuff a lot if it looks too dumb. it has to be pretty dumb or just low-budget filler that is boring. there is a lot of it out there. i want to watch good stuff.

i'm still watching the Eagles win but i'm also watching amy sedaris on david letterman. man, you don't see the likes of her anymore. unless its her. she would go full weird on national t.v. i'm also watching tom green on all the late night shows a long time ago. crazy. amy can make me laugh hard! not too many people can anymore. don rickles. her. some others.

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

I liked Furiosa better than Fury Road, it's 25% less '90s music video.

Furiosa is good - it's not as good as Fury Road, but then nothing is. But it does recognise that funny dumb Chris Hemsworth is the best Chris Hemsworth.

I’m on my little kick of watching things that were nominated (after watching almost no movies all year), and starting with the movies that are free to stream. Therefore I’m getting in those films nominated for best visual effects (Alien) and now costumes—Gladiator II, since most of the prestige films haven’t hit streaming yet.

I don’t think I ever saw the first Gladiator so I dont have the baggage of comparison. Nevertheless I had low expectations for the sequel but it was better than I expected it to be. I doubt I’ll think about it much but it was a nice way to spend an afternoon.

Romulus is not good fun, it's mostly incredibly awkward callbacks to better scenes from the earlier movies. It really is terrible, and in a really small, scuzzy way, not even terrible and preposterous on a grand stage like the two idiotic Scott Prometheus movies.

gotcha.

Many xps Pascal was a known actor before LoU, but after he became a subject of celebrity media, which is a different thing.

fun thing about Pascal is his friendship with Sarah Paulson, it's really sweet.

what are the good recentish spy shows other than slow horses? i finished binging it and wanted to continue in that vein. tried day of the jackal but it feels very slow and cheesy.

I think people are split here on The Agency? or maybe its just me who got bored of it. I really liked the first episodes and then it just dragged for me. didn't love the characters that didn't help.

I liked the first season of the Night Agent on Netflix. I've canceled my subscription but there's a second season now.

i liked that first season of The Night Agent on Netflix even though the lead guy is kind of a generic dud. it was still entertaining spy stuff. more action-y though. maybe more Tom Clancy territory.

great minds...uh...think alike! haha!

what are the good recentish spy shows other than slow horses?

I enjoyed Mr. and Mrs. Smith. And just started Black Doves, which seems promising.

i saw that the Recruit has a new season starting on Netflix and i can't remember if i even watched the first one. i probably did. and forgot all about it.

i want to go back and watch old stuff. MI-5 and the like. loads of stuff i've never seen.

Berlin Station looks kinda cool but i think its one of those odd ones that isn't streaming on the stuff i have. mgm+ or apple+ or something.

Xpost recent spy shows. Black Doves was good. However if you missed The Americans, highly recommended to see that instead

The Diplomat is sort of a spy show. That one is good.

I thought The Agency was skillfully made, but every now and then I remembered it was about the US trying to maintain control over the world, which was a bummer. I wonder if I'd like the French original better.

thanks all. maybe i'll give black doves a shot. or maybe i'll rewatch the greatest spy tv show of all time (patriot)

Also enjoyed Sirens a lot. Someone upthread said they didn't think it was trashy at all, and I'd concur with this. I thought it was solid. As always with these shows where they are trying to depict the lives of the super-rich without a HBO budget (and especially, I guess, because this is based on a play), we were amused at how they kept clearing everyone out of the kitchen so they could have a private chat. "Don't they have another room in their giant house where they could have this conversation? Like maybe that one where they stashed that photographer from Vanity Fair?"

We saw the first episode of Your Friends and Neighbors. Thankfully nothing to do with that movie. It was ... fine. Some serious "American Beauty" vibes with more than a hint of "who cares?" (did you know that wealth and the suburbs are not always what they seem?) makes me wonder if watching a second episode would help or hurt.

I wouldn't bother personally; "who cares?" was very much my overriding feeling at the end even though Hamm is v watchable himself.

We enjoyed Your Friends and Neighbors. It improved as it broadened out to incorporate the characters around Coop. Hamm and Amanda Peet were excellent. we weren't convinced by the very last twist at the end but didn't ruin the show

The Studio Ice Cube episode was dreadful

Wanted to watch a newish light-hearted action movie. Tried Deep Cover - way too cringe and not much action, bailed after about 20 min. Then tried Bullet Train - way too random and silly. Bailed on that one as well. Gave up, going to read a book

A little late, I'm sure, but Back in Action with Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz sounds ideal? It's not as ridiculous as Argylle, just some standard "they were out - now they're back" with some non-annoying kids.

I wouldn't bother personally; "who cares?" was very much my overriding feeling at the end even though Hamm is v watchable himself.

lol https://www.avclub.com/tv-needs-a-break-from-rich-people-doing-bad-things

That question could be asked about the show itself, as well several other series this year that center on rich (mostly white, mostly male) people doing bad things: Who cares?

We saw a couple of more episodes. Again, it's fine, acting is good, but ... who cares.

I fell off of YF&N about ten minutes into the second episode. I feel like it didn’t had a compelling premise outside of “look at what this guy’s doing”

I watched Mountainhead, under the mistaken assumption it was the pilot episode for a show. It was fine. I hated all the characters, it didn’t have any wheels-within-wheels machinations like Succession (which always fell apart when someone just did something of their own volition, nonetheless..), and the character allusions were both too specific and too broad at the same time.

I guess it did paint these people as completely disconnected from any normal conception of humanity so it won on that account. Silicon Valley left its characters somewhat relatable due to the absurdity.

Seeing some Emmy chatter for a few shows I never got around to, so I watched the MATLOCK premiere last night. I recall folks saying Kathy Bates was great and the show was surprisingly better than they expected a network lawyer show to be.

I don't know, it was pretty much exactly what I expected a network lawyer show to be - totally predictable and unbelievable. And while I didn't see the twist coming, I thought the twist was totally fucking dumb.

I was out when I saw they were giving Matlock an origin story and mythos arc. Kathy Bates solving crimes/saving defendants in Georgia would have been cool.

Yeah her folksy derring-do is charming but the reveal that that's all a front--including multiple flashbacks to scenes from earlier in the very episode I was watching--spoiled any charm the show might have had.

how did nu-Matlock fare against classic Matlock?

we started watching it but lost interest after a

while

bates is v enjoyable in it though!

we watched “Revival” a new sort-of-zombie show (Syfy/Peacock) - starring Harm from JAG and the Wyonna Earp lady … some of the acting is a little shaggy but it’s kinda good, I had fun w the first episode.

apparently its based on a comic

I’ve not been a huge Black Mirror fan—usually I just watch one or two episodes per season. But I did watch USS Callister a couple years ago and then the sequel episode that came out a month ago. That was a fun episode and much more enjoyable than most of the shallow dystopia of so many of the other episodes.

https://ew.com/joe-biden-crashes-reacher-set-philadelphia-meets-alan-ritchson-11756261

inadvertently strolling onto the premises as crew members filmed a police chase scene for the fourth season of the Prime Video thriller.

That's so Biden!!

"So our Reacher set got in the way of these legends," Ritchson wrote alongside a carousel of clips and photos, calling it "a privilege and honor to meet the Biden family."

"They couldn't have been more lovely. Kind, joyful, gracious and present," he said. "We chatted briefly about simple stuff, like string theory and quantum entanglement. Then Joe beat me at arm wrestling. All in a day's work."

I might love Alan Ritchson

lol

Yeah, I also enjoyed the first ep of Revival. Once you get past the acting and low production values it is indeed quite fun xps

i’m not sure why but something about the vibe of Revival (quirky town, creeping dread etc) reminds me a teeeny bit of that 2005 show “Invasion” (the one where William Fitchtner played the sherrif/lizard guy) (i fkn LOVED that show)

the shows are nothing alike obv but maybe its just they dont make these kinds of shows much anymore

ambivalent about the Studio, not sure if I'd watch another season. technically impressive with all the long takes, but several of the episodes run a decent concept into the ground without the laughs to justify it, like the Note and the doctor one. I did think the last two episodes of the Studio were probably the best two though. Zoe Kravitz was hilarious

maybe i’m just too Rogen-pilled? i fkn loved it

saw the first two episodes of Adults and am loving it. Nailing a certain gen z thing I guess. Sort of like Broad City but not quite as wacky or like Girls but not as pretentious, with a bit of an It's Always Sunny/Seinfeld thing of terrible people surrounded by frustrated normal people.

What I do not like about it is how hard it pretends to take place in New York when it is very clearly not New York to anybody who lives here and that's annoying. Why couldn't the show just be about a bunch of people living together in Toronto?

Broad City is a good comp, I hadn’t thought of that. And yes, mixed with Always Sunny

WAU at The Eternaut

I've hardly watched any TV in the last couple of months, but I finished Dept.Q and had a blast. Some great casting, and I liked how it walked the line with 'dubious policing'. Good locations, too.

I've seen a lot of people recommend that show, and also a fair amount of really, really negative opinions. The description scans pretty straightforward and familiar, so I'm curious why it would be so divisive.

We've just started it. I wondered at first if it was an adaptation of a comic book, it has that kind of over-the-top feel (the weird relationship the barrister has with her brother's carer, the fact that the dept's new office is not just in the basement but in the shower/toiler block). It almost verges on parody in places, including the main guy's attitude. But that does lead to some entertaining dialogue, and these things are intrinsically ridiculous anyway.

Thought about watching season 3 of The Gilded Age but Max offered me both The Knick and The Alienist, so I'm watching The Knick instead. Two episodes in it's... OK, but I'm hard pressed to understand why I should be on the side of the cokehead racist protagonist when you can't even make the "well, he gets results" argument because his patients keep dying!

Also watched season 5 of Fargo this past week. Jon Hamm and Jennifer Jason Leigh were great in it. Everyone else was fine.

Finished Dope Thief over the weekend after a long break. It did a good job of maintaining tension until the whole thing fell apart into imcomprehensibility in the last big set piece. Good-to-great performances, esp Brian Tyree Henry and Marin Ireland.

Thanks for the Adults recommendation Mr. Selzer, that was a fun series. Too short, need more. Excellent ensemble comedy, everyone is so good.

have only watched the first two episodes so far.

Also watched season 5 of Fargo this past week. Jon Hamm and Jennifer Jason Leigh were great in it. Everyone else was fine.

The sin-eater was great as well. I initially thought the actor that played him was also the "Czechoslovakian interior decorator" from the Pine Barrens episode of The Sopranos but, alas, I was wrong.

DUSTER started out as a kind of middle-of-the-road throwback show, and in most ways it still is. But dang it if I don’t look forward to it every week.

yeah i dont mind it
(the elvis/col tom parker stuff in ep2 took me out a bit but i still enjoy it so far)

A bunch of charismatic actors doing dumb fun stuff is a solid recipe.

started Dept Q last night, going to need subtitles on for this one, as good as I am with accents.

Episode 1 of Smoke was some solid Dennis Lehane stuff. Jurnie Smollett is great, everyone else is fine. Greg Kinnear still looks like a muppet. I was remarking that serial arsonists are not something you ever see in the news here, partly because most of our houses are not built of wood, and they're not raised up off the ground, so you can't stick an accelerant under a porch and set the whole thing on fire. You'd have to throw something through a window, at least. Of course, maybe they don't really have serial arsonists in America either, and this is just a thing that crime writers write about.

We have serial arsonists

Xp - The protagonist of the Knick is similar to the protagonist of Dept Q … he gets better once the horrible people get introduced more. Both shows have really interesting supporting characters. The Knick gives them more time than Dept Q.

Alienist has 2 annoying main dudes that get too much time … Bunny Colvin and the Jewish brothers are the best, and the female lead is pretty solid eventually.

Alienist s1 is great, s2 is trash

Watched Mariska Hargitay's HBO documentary My Mom Jayne. It's hilarious because the first half is "let me tell you about my movie star mom who I was ashamed of for decades — turns out she was kind of awesome!" and then the second half is "now let me tell you about my secret other family!" It made me want to watch some Jayne Mansfield movies. (Of course, because Hargitay and her husband are hardcore Catholics, there was no mention of Mom's time spent partying with Anton LaVey...)

xxposts to trishy yeah we have a lot of serial arsonists … fyi serial arson isnt limited to homes, it can be starting wildfires, structure fires like abandoned buildings etc

Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric are the two most significant serial arsonists in California and they both got away with their crimes without a single arrest.

BTW, the series Smoke is loosely based on a real serial arsonist here in Los Angeles who set about 2000 fires that resulted in 4 deaths. He was a good arsonist because he was a Glendale fire captain and arson investigator. Joseph Wambaugh wrote a great book, Fire Lover, about the case and if you really want to know more - the Firebug podcast talks about a couple other prolific serial arsonists. There's even a HBO movie about him starring Ray Liotta

Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric are the two most significant serial arsonists in California and they both got away with their crimes without a single arrest.

Yes, I remember seeing this covered on the Daily Show or John Oliver or one of those current affairs lads a few years ago, now you mention it. I did not know about the Glendale arsonist.

Not that we don't have people here who set fire to things -- right by my house the vegetation on the sand dunes gets destroyed every year by teenagers who like to come and set fire to the grass because who the fuck knows why, but it's not the same, I don't think.

Anyway, top arson chat, thank you.