The Glass Teat, or 'Television'

Miscellaneous Blather
#761

Them. Got a good line in visuals, and conjures up neighbourhood claustrophobia well, though it’s a tad black and white (sorry).

Jupiter’s Legacy. Taking a long time to actually get going. Not impressing me once you’ve seen The Boys, or better yet, Invincible.

Beforeigners. Thanks to @biffpow for mentioning this one, I finally got around to it, despite what looks like an absolute lack of effort put into that title translation. Well worth the time, as the world has to deal with a slow influx of unwilling time travellers from the past.

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#762

Deadwind, on Netflix. Perfectly acceptable Scandi-murder* on the lines of The Bridge - loner woman detective with complicated personal backstory, murders that reach into the political and business worlds, solemn music and moody overhead shots of a city at night. It’s Finnish and the city is Helsinki, and it’s a bit snowier than the Malmö of Saga Norén, but the story beats are familiar. Still, enjoyable despite the feeling that the scriptwriters‘ starting point was The Bridge box set with director‘s commentary.

Amusingly, Netflix only has German subtitles, which is fine up to the point people start talking German so of course no subtitles - ok, I can cope, after a processing pause - or English, where I carry on reading the subtitles out of sheer momentum until I realise what’s happening. Then i start quibbling about the translation. Smooth mental gear changes, not so much.

*yes, i am perfectly aware that Finland strictly speaking is Nordic but not Scandinavian. Nordi-murder sounds silly though.

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#763

Lower Decks Season 1 is now available in the iTunes store. Instabuy. :heart:

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#764

Mare of Easttown. Crime drama on HBO starring Kate Winslet as a detective in a small Pennsylvania town investigating a local murder. Winslet’s performance is great along with Jean Smart who plays her overbearing mother.

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#765

My 8-year-old is interested in Star Trek. What series should I start with him? TNG seems obvious, but more action-heavy/less-cerebral might hold his attention more. Voyager, maybe?

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#766

Well, the Lower Decks maybe?

Pro: Animated and more on the humor/action side, also shorter episodes (cough attention span cough)
Con: a lot of Star Trek universe inside jokes which may go “Woooosh!”

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#767

Pro: Lots of Easter Eggs that let you explore episodes from all the series whenever something tickles their fancy.
“Who are the blue guys with antennas? And why does the funny brown man say “hu-mons”?”

#768

I shudder at the thought of my first Trek being Voyager… Although I can see why it could be a good choice–it is written and acted in a way that will probably appeal to an 8 year-old. So maybe you have a point.

I’ve been struggling with this question too (mine turns 5 in a few weeks) and have kind of thought I might start with TOS. Hammy acting, simple plots, a fair amount of action and weirdness. While I love Trek, I can barely stand most TOS anymore, so whether it’s that or Voyager, a bitter pill it shall be, I think.

Maybe the fourth movie, The Return Home, with the whales, would be a good place to start?

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#769

I was considering the movie, but is it as good if you don’t know the characters? Especially the Spock bits, like on the bus? I’m not sure. I was considering TOS as well.

#770

My knowledge of Trek is far from comprehensive, but we started my kids at about that age with Wrath of Khan, then Voyage Home, and they liked both. They haven’t clamored for more, but seem happy enough to consider it if offered. 4 is now a funny period piece from history times for them, so, though it loses something in lack of familiarity with the characters to start there, it gains additional humor. And most of the context of the characters can be gleaned from a pretty brief summary, so it’s probably fine.

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#771

19-2. The trials and travails of a shift of Montreal police officers. Really quite compulsive viewing, there are no good guys, everyone gets their hands dirty, and their work leaves marks on them. It took a little getting used to, seeing actors I only associated with the wonderful comedy of Letterkenny in a serious drama, but it was worth sticking with. Some episodes are incredible, most are at least good.

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#772

“We took five episodes of an eight-episode series to actually get going. The kids love stuff like that, right?”

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#773

Millar has always been kinda overrated. I knew back when they announced their big deal with him they were not likely to get a return on that size of investment.

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#774

I was traveling for the past 6 days (first trip in a year and a half) and had downloaded on the Netflix App both Yasuke and Blood of Zeus for the plane rides. Both I would highly recommend if you are into Anime-influenced animation.

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#775

Actually really enjoyed the first season of Upload with Robbie Amell on Amazon Prime.

It’s the future (2033), and they’ve perfected “uploading” a dying person’s consciousness into a virtual reality where they can actually interact with living people.

It’s kind of dystopic in the sense that I don’t really know if I’d want to live in that society, but the episodes are funny and it has an overarching plotline of what’s the story behind Amell’s death?

Definitely worth a try on Amazon Prime if you subscribe to it. It’s created by one of the guys behind The Office and Parks & Rec. Funnily enough, the other guy also went into an Afterlife comedy with The Good Place.

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#776

MODOK. Okay, now this is funny. It’s a little bit of a shame the best Marvel stuff is sidelined like this, but what else can you expect. An absolute barrage of jokes, including some excellent ones, every episode.

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#777

Too Old to Die Young. The closest thing to Lynchian, impeccably lit, excellent composition, but what on Earth I’m supposed to make of it, I don’t know. Ten episodes, at 60+ minutes each, so of course Refn is in no hurry, but it’s also quite happy to take abrupt turns into absurdism, from what seems to be a fairly straightforward thriller, except it also crosses over into horror. Unhurried and unique, excellent soundtrack, the acting can be fairly stylised though, which works more in some scenes than others. Grim, sometimes macabre, violent, genuinely unpleasant in places.

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#778

Resident Evil Ultimate Darkness. Pure shit. Not an original thought to be found, with every scene and idea cribbed from games or films.

#779

If you have kids or just enjoy family television The Mysterious Benedict Society on Disney+ is quite good so far and is a great recreation of the source material.

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#780

Stan Against Evil. It’s a neat little Ash vs Evil Dead rip-off on an even smaller budget. I do appreciate John C. McGinley is essentially perfect for the role of boomer former sheriff, however, and is exactly as insufferable as you would expect. Some good laughs despite the shonky budget, effects, acting, etc.

Futureman. I’m delighted to find a series as dedicated to stupid jokes as I am. A gamer gets recruited to fight in a war to prevent a dystopian future. The problem is he’s fucking hopeless. Excellent jokes, top genre references, and endlessly quotable dialogue. “I knew you were useless when you jizzed all over my leg!”

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