Speak Up Saturday

[misbegotten]

Welcome to the weekly roundup post! What are you watching this week? What are you excited about?

Comments

[kalloway]

Lots of mini-marathons this week!

So far I've watched Outburst Dreamer Boys, Maoyu, and am almost finished with Sunday Without God.

Outburst Dreamer Boys was more charming than I expected; it's about an after school club made up of a pack of chuuni students who just want to use their 'powers' for good.

Maoyu has an interesting premise of subverting the need for war supporting multiple economies by bolstering agriculture, trade, etc. Made the absolutely unique decision to give none of the characters names. Everyone is just called by their description - Hero, Knight, Mao, etc.

And Sunday Without God is surprisingly good so far. I wasn't sold on the premise at first but the sheer amount of development and characterization packed into each episode is superb. Nothing is wasted and I'd happily watch another season or two if they existed.

[jo]

I've been off from work since Dec. 16, going back only on Jan. 6, and had really hoped to plow through some backlogged TV series that I've been meaning to start, or had started but never finished, during that time. However, that hasn't happened as I have been struggling to feel invested or even interested in anything in particular. Consequently, my TV watching this past week, not counting the Big Bang Theory marathon on the Comedy Channel, has been mostly UK xmas specials, namely: Gavin and Stacey: The Finale; The Piano s02 Christmas Special; All Creatures Great and Small s05 Christmas Special, and the requisite rewatch of Love Actually. I've yet to get around to Wallace and Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl.

I did watch this week's episode of Outlander (I know I said this last week, but this season is really superbly good, but I would say that as it's largely based on my fave book of the series, Written in My Own Heart's Blood, aka book 8). Also watched a bit more of s02 of Shrinking. And last night, I watched the first episode of the new Dexter series - Dexter: Original Sin. It's a prequel featuring young Dexter, a pre-med student too young to buy beer, and who hasn’t killed another human being yet. They did a really good job in casting actors who look like younger versions of the characters from the original Dexter series, and the actors really capture the essence of those characters as they were portrayed in the original series too. Anyway, I really enjoyed the first episode, so fingers crossed that the rest of the series holds up.

[violateraindrop]

I haven't made any progress on The Diplomat since last week. I wanted to finish S2 by the end of the year, but I don't think that'll happen.

Dune: Prophecy was fine. It looks good, but it sounds exhausting that this stuff will go on for 10000 more years lol
I know there will be another season, but it feels like there was barely a point to this first one.

[yourlibrarian]

I was curious to see what someone had to say about the Dune series. I won't be able to get to it for months still.

[violateraindrop]

I thought it was fine, but the initial reaction I saw online was rather negative. Then nobody talked about it anymore. I feel like you can take as long as you need ;)

[wearing_tearing]

Elf (2003): actually my first time watching this! And I wish I hadn't because the creepy Santa song has been stuck in my head since Christmas day :)

The Penguin: finished it today and in awe. Colin Farrell and Cristin Milioti's performances were incredible! The tight plot and miniseries arc really worked with the established pace and all of the violence and tension that came with it. I recommend it to everyone who enjoys good television!

What We Do in the Shadows Final Season: I'm sad and disappointed :( This season felt aimless in comparison to the previous one and overall had few highlights. I did love the cameo at the end of episode 9 :B

[yourlibrarian]

As mentioned in yesterday's post I've spent a lot of time on The Killing (US) and finished the series.

I'm almost finished with Death and Other Details. It's much more my speed than Murder At the End of the World, even though it also deals with a bunch of rich people and their crimes (this time on a cruise ship). It just plays out more like a mystery but with a variety of reveals.

I've been going through the GBBS Celebrity challenges and am up through S5. It's been rather fun, both to come across certain celebs and also because the disasters produce such funny responses.

A few other things are on pause at the moment because my partner's away for the holidays. I might try out Damages next.

[china_shop]

I can't remember when I last checked in, but we haven't been watching much TV lately anyway (I've been busy with Yuletide writing and reading), so the most salient things to mention are Black Dove and the first half of The Lincoln Lawyer season 3. (We'll finish the latter in the next couple of days, but in the meantime, no spoilers, please.)

[shadowkat]

Not a lot has caught my interest, and I've only had a couple of days off - was busy during three of them. Now, I've caught a cold - so just kind of vegging and sleeping?

* Finished Virgin River S6 - it's like Sullivan's Crossing, and adapted from novels by the same novelist, Robyn Carr. It's okay, kind of thing to watch when one doesn't want to think to much and be comforted? Like wrapping up in a warm blanket?

* Working my way through S1 of Rings of Power rewatch, so I can watch S2. I forgot most of S1.

* That Christmas on Netflix. Excellent. By the same folks who did Love, Actually, apparently.

* A bunch of lackluster Hallmark by way of Netflix Christmas films. Best was A Biltmore Christmas.

* GBBS Holiday Edition - various episodes, and an episode of Blow Out Holiday Edition.

* Sing - the Thriller episode, it's about fifteen minutes long? And just various renditions of the Thriller song.

Now, thinking of hunting down the Celebrity Holiday Bake Off episodes.

[tinny]

All I wanted to watch this week was more HPI, so I did. I'm now in the middle of season 2 and enjoying it a lot. I was hoping for a Karadec/Alvaro romance, which doesn't seem to be forthcoming, but I don't mind yet. They're still both wonderful characters. I watched one more ep of the US version, still four to go. There are only seven eps at this point. (Whereas of the French version, there are 4 seasons. 3 of them are on (my) Prime, but not for free.)

On holiday, a family member suggested Perfekt Verpasst, a comedy starring Bastian Pastewka and Anke Engelke, on Prime. We only got through half of the eight episodes, and I didn't hate it. It's not laugh out loud funny, the characters are a little over the top for me, but I chuckled a few times. If you like either of them, it's worth checking out.