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)

i am sure there are things i am forgetting.

oh yeah, sirens, which falls into "trash but did watch the whole thing"

is there a thread for the lowdown? what an incredible show

High-quality, excellent, absolutely loved and will die for:
The Pitt
Task
Andor

Really very good:
Pluribus (reserve the right to change my mind if it goes south)
Blue Lights
Platonic
Murderbot
Eternaut
Old Dog, New Tricks
The Leopard

Trashy but loved all the same:
All Her Fault
Traitors
Slow Horses
Sirens

Kind of worn out their welcome for me, may not continue with:
The Bear
The Diplomat
White Lotus
Severance (heresy, I know, but here we are)

First two episodes of the new season of Percy Jackson continued to be a delight and my now 14 year old son massively enjoyed them too

There's a five minute season one recap on Disney which is worth a watch if, like me, you've completely forgotten everything that happened two years ago

Also fun seeing Veep's Timothy Simons ham it up

My 12yo son has caught the hype for Percy Jackson and we are probably going to start season 1 tonight.

:D i am behind on my s1 watching - i got some work to do!

What I watched in 2025 that I would absolutely recommend to others

L’Effondrement (The Collapse)
Slow Horses season 5
The Rehearsal season 2
Dope Thief
The Eternaut season 1
Gyeongseong Creature season 2
Black Doves season 1
Un village français (A French Village) season 1

Dark Winds Season 3 was good too

Yes! Dark Winds is so good!

Shows critics are putting on EOY lists that I don't know anything about:

I Love LA
Too Much
Dying for Sex
Common Side Effects
Mussolini: Son of the Century
Mo
Long Story Short
Asura
Etoile
St. Denis Medical
The Guest ("If you’ve been on social media at any point over the last 12 months, you will have seen The Guest." Oh, really?)

Common Side Effects is definitely worth a watch: weird animated show, same creator as the awesome Scavengers Reign. It's been talked about a little upthread

Asura is a Kore-Eda drama I've been meaning to watch. Kinda interested in the Mussolini show too

I forget when things come out because every year is simultaneously ten years and twenty minutes. I could have sworn Dying For Sex was last year.

On this list, of those I’ve seen, Common Side Effects and Long Story Short were both really great.

I tapped out on I Love LA and wish I’d tapped out on Too Much.

The performances in Dying for Sex were outstanding but the subject matter was not for me. I’m fairly alone in feeling lukewarm on that show.

I watched both of seasons of Mo straight through so I can’t differentiate between the two, but it was good.

St Denis Medical is basically like if Abbott Elementary were set in a hospital instead of the school. I don’t think it has any place on a best of the year list but as far as comfort-watching a sitcom—a rare thing these days!—it’s good.

I have no idea what The Guest or Asura is. I’ve seen multiple people rate the Mussolini show very high but I think it’s on a streamer I don’t have.

We watched Etoile for a while and i am a huge Amy Sherman Palladino stan but it didn’t ever really hook me. Not sure what it was missing but i struggled to stay interested

lol didn't know she was doing a SECOND ballet show

yeah this one’s like the MOST ballet show

culinary class wars series 2, here we go.

News I can use! TY, I thought culinary class wars S1 was tons of fun

RIP Hoopla. Hang in there, Kanopy!

What happened to Hoopla?

Dear Hoopla.com Users,

I regret to inform you that Hoopla.com will be ceasing operations by the end of this week, December 26th. We thank you for being part of our journey to bring new experiences to life in our video platform and into your lives.

While we did not succeed in our mission to be a destination of choice for life's experiences, we nonetheless encourage everyone to continue to seek fun and connection through shared experiences and communities.

Wishing you all a Happy Holidays and the best for the New Year!

Sincerely,
Team Hoopla.com Team

Literally never heard of Hoopla.com until just now, which was probably part of the problem.

It was a service linked to public libraries, "a web and mobile streaming platform launched in 2013 that provides access to a wide range of digital media, including audiobooks, eBooks, comics, manga, music, movies, and TV shows. The service is available to users through participating public libraries, allowing library cardholders to borrow and stream digital media."

The Hoopla.com website doesn’t appear to have anything to do with the library service afaict

Looks like a place that sold tickets or something?

Hmm, don’t see anything the Hoopla from libraries closing anywhere else. It’s website is hoopladigital.com also. Hoopla.com appears to be a different event based service.

Huh, today I learned there is ... more than one Hoopla?

Knee Deep In The Hooplas

Oh thank heavens, I use Hoopla Digital through my library fairly often for ebooks and was sad. Yes hoopla.com appears to have been an event ticketing platform

Josh did you post an email from a service you had signed up for without ever knowing it existed or

FWIW tho (and depending on where you live) one could be a little worried. A couple of library systems in my area are dumping Kanopy at the end of the year due to budget cuts, and that doesn't bode well.

Libraries lose silly amounts of money on Hoopla loans and Kanopy streams.

I mostly use the Libby app as far as library offerings go, and just found out its owner, Overdrive, also owns Kanopy. Hopefully the terms are reasonable.

I wonder if part of Kanopy’s price has inflated due to an expanded library. I usually just pop in to watch a few documentaries and didn’t realize how much their catalog has expanded

Josh did you post an email from a service you had signed up for without ever knowing it existed or

Honestly, I have no idea! I guess I must have, or at least don't recall why I signed up! I'm sure there was some reason ...

Is Pluribus complete? I've been waiting to have the whole thing available before starting. (I'm asking here instead of in its own thread because I don't want to run across spoilers.)

Yes s1 finale just aired!

Saved up Culinary Class War S2 until I had finished work and... just wow. As ever, Korean game show editing remains head and shoulders above anywhere else in the world but beyond that (spoilers up to end of ep 7):

The treatment of Shin Dong-Min in the first episode was just brutal. This was literally the equivalent of having Heston Blumenthal or Ferran Adria on and telling them to their face they were yesterdays men. Also the Chinese chef who turned a pork belly slab into a giant long strip only to put it back together and make that pagoda thing - considering someone got through serving bought booze with a couple of saucers of green veg this seemed like a harsh decision.

The guy cleaning the monkfish is one of the single most impressive things I've ever seen on a cookery show.

I didn't particularly like Venerable Master getting the saving throw, especially since it was a 2-0 vote and there were plenty of 1-1s that were by definition closer and therefore would have been more deserving. Particularly since they seem to have added the square root of nothing to the All Or Nothing task.

Speaking of which All Or Nothing seems like a misstep. I'll still enjoy it but moving to all black or all white seems contrary to the aim of the show. That final edit though, all coming down to the final vote...

Can't wait for Tuesday.

And now I have fucked up the tags. Sorry

Josh did you post an email from a service you had signed up for without ever knowing it existed or

I have just read someone else on a different forum state with bafflement that this exact thing happened to him, lol

I'm firstletter.surname at Google's email and I get so much of that just from people who honestly don't know their own email address, that might have happened here?

it took a little while to get going, but the last few episodes of i love l.a. have been really funny.

We’re about halfway through the Lowdown right now and it’s so much better than any other 2025 show—not even close.

The producers of Culinary Class Wars must have been thrilled with the cliffhanger at the end of the all or nothing battle. Cynically I would assume they engineered the drama though not obvious how

just starting that episode, as aldo said getting rid of all white or all black spoons seems like a mistake, it kills the class war theme - but maybe there will be a twist.

The treatment of Shin Dong-Min in the first episode was just brutal

it was but also kinda fair imo, you can't call yourself culinary innovator and make something 20 years old, and ultimately it did look a bit basic.

That last available Culinary Wars ep, when the announcer said “And now, without further ado…”, I said “They’re now going to have much ado and end without revealing the final vote.” With 6 eps to go, does seem a lot to have just 9 or 12 carry the remainder, so expecting hijinks.

the documentary on the New Yorker on Netflix is so good it makes me want to subscribe to the New Yorker again

Up to date with Culinary Class Wars.

<Narrator: There was indeed a twist.>

They stick the landing of the All Or Nothing task pretty well and the three tasks in this bundle are all fairly good but the decision to save Venerable Sunjae continues to hang like a millstone - her team was never getting through the middle stage but the judges seem too deferential and the plainness of her food and temple cooking as a whole gets a bit of a free ride. She also cruises through the All or Nothing task despite not contributing at all to it. It's hard not to see the final two as her and Brewmaster Yun, who I dearly love but seems to be getting extra points just for not being a classical chef. This is definitely a comfort food and sides year.

ER is leaving Hulu in 11 days and I have (checks notes) 15 more seasons to get through

do you think this would qualify as a good reason for taking medical leave from work y/n

medical drama leave