I kind of hated the book but that’s more because of the author’s writing style, I think. I was really looking forward to seeing the series, though, because the story was great and I’m guessing someone more competent with dialogue wrote the teleplay.
Also, Amy Adams is in it.
Anyone watching Battlebots? First half of the season was great. Turned out to be a good thing it left ABC, since Discovery expanded the show out considerably.
I watched a whole bunch of the penn and teller stuff not so long ago. They’d give some kind of key word when they weren’t fooled, which was often enough to allow me to google the answer. I really enjoyed reading about the mechanics behind the tricks. My mrs told me to shut up because she preferred the mystique. Different strokes for different folks
Wellington Paranormal. Two clueless coppers and their sergeant are the task force to deal with supernatural and unexplainable events. Amusing.
I saw the trailers for Wellington paranormal and saw it had potential. I wonder how heavily it leans on New Zealand in jokes (its created by Jemaine Clement (of ‘flight of the conchords’ fame) and Taika Waititi (of ‘Thor: Rangnarok and ‘What we did in the shadows’ fame) ), so im sure it has plenty of universal appeal
(That’s an absurd amount of parentheses, I need an editor)
Speaking of New Zealand, has anyone been watching the second series of survivor New Zealand? It was the final today and then last thing I want to do is spoil anything (spoilers, jose wins 
) I’ve never seen it before, but I had a friend who competed in it this year. I just assumed it was another reality tv show. Turns out it’s a 40 day long game. I get the impression from the fandom that this is a raw, honest gutsy season to watch
I watched the final of survivor nz live and it was fantastic. Obviously I’m going to have to spoil it a bit, but I figure if I start the post with survivor and spoilers it’ll give anyone a chance to look away.
So, my friend won it. What’s of particular interest to us here is that she’s a board gamer (in fact she runs our Friday night group), she’s a member of boardgamegeek, and it just goes to show that a skinny, nerdy librarian board gamer can go on and win a game that combines physical endurance and social skills. I honestly think she is a real champion for people like us.
wtf did I just read?
The Sinner, on Netflix. Jessica Biel leads the cast in a psychological murder mystery; it’s not a mystery who the killer is, but rather the motive behind it. Creepy religious not-so-undertones included, free of charge.
Condor. I’m not really sure I’ll be watching any more than the first episode, unless someone knows better? I really didn’t think much of any of it, very generic and focus-tested, not a patch on the original or the likes of Rubicon.
New Girl. Only just discovered this. Warm, amusing, gentle.
My wife and I love New Girl.
Wife and I enjoyed New Girl for a while too. Like maple syrup - warm and sweet, till you’ve had too much of it and now your pancakes are soggy and fall apart and you wonder why you didn’t just make the healthy choice and eat Cheerios instead.
The last season or so a character on New Girl would act like an insane person just so they could have a plot . It would be someone different each time. No one acts like this. It would conflict with what the character had done before. Needless to say, I watched all the seasons.
Revisiting Bored to Death. Jason Schwartzman as an amateur private detective is basically perfect; I’ve been in love with his comedic turns since Rushmore, and this is no different. Danson’s debonair man about town and Galifianakis’ slobby comic artist make a nice triangle of neuroticism with Schwartzman, and there’s always joy in seeing how any one of them copes with noirish situations where they are completely out of their depth.
Castle Rock, two episodes, for the watching of. Thoroughly ungripped.
Trailer Park Boys. The daily misadventures of a group of lowlife idiots has just enough comedy and stupidity to keep me watching. The crimes are committed with enough realism and ambition to be interesting, when they’re not so completely inept as to be depressingly believable. There’s a heady mixture of friendship and desperation between the characters which makes it compelling; they have enough integrity to stick together in the face of adversity, some of which they bring on themselves.
The Purge. Never have I seen such a promising setting pissed away. After four dire films, and one good Rick and Morty episode that was better than all of them put together, we now have a TV series. Early days yet, but none of the characters are that interesting, none of their stories are intriguing, and I can’t see it improving. How is it possible for such a good premise to be wasted so consistently.
American Horror Story. The gleeful horror continues as the world is consigned to nuclear oblivion and a surviving group of misfits corralled by a secret organisation enjoy misery in a secret bunker. Hysterical, hilarious, accomplished. The AHS routine is strong and well-established, mixing humour, gore, horror, perversion and any number of silly twists.
Maniac. A slightly more serious role for Jonah Hill, alongside Emma Stone, as a pair of fuck ups in a drug trial for an advanced psychological therapy. Set in an odd retro-futuristic Dickian dystopian America, it packs the full arsenal of humour, from physical comedy to dark moments of existential hilarity, and plays them straight. Wonderful series so far, halfway through.
The end of The Originals. Goodness me, but that was shoddy writing of the highest order. I actually quite liked the elegiac tone of the season, but the finale tried for completely unearned emotional notes and missed all of them.
Bodyguard, after the rest of the country finished raving about it. Happy endings all round, the wicked got their just desserts. Any programme that has a full-on bomb-disarming scene in the final episode and have that not be the climax has to be applauded. The deep cynicism about British political life was unfortunately bang on.
The deep cynicism about British political life was unfortunately bang on.