Speak Up Saturday 🌞

[feurioo]

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

Comments

[jo]

This week I:

• finished watching Ballard (Prime), which I very much enjoyed.


• Watched the first two episodes of season 3 of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.


• Watched the first episode of a new British series called Bookish starring Mark Gatiss.


• Watched an absolutely delightful mini-series (4 eps) called Mix Tape -- a nostalgic romance about two ex-lovers who reconnect via the songs they shared during their teens.


• Watched the first episode of a new 2-part documentary about Billy Joel called And So It Goes. The 2nd part drops next week. It's a 5-hour long documentary and when I read about it, I thought it would be 5 1-hr eps. Nope. It's two 2.5-hr eps. I love Billy Joel, and I realized that I know virtually nothing about him.

The only things I'm excited about this coming week are the next episode of ST: SNW and the conclusion of the Billy Joel documentary.

[yourlibrarian]

I saw that documentary pop up. Maybe I'll check it out.

[executrix]

Completely obsessed with The Great British Sewing Bee on Roku. I still think it would work better if they kept all the contestants and just gave them a point score every week ("Julia, your flat-fell seaming really let you down, so we deducted five points from your High Street Challenge score"). The Love Films brand is "nice people who even help each other during the competition" so I'd like to see them for longer.

[shadowkat]

Oh, I need to check that out.

[violateraindrop]

I'm horribly behind on replying to comments from the last three(?) weeks. I'm so sorry 🙈

I have finally started watching S4 of The Bear and I'm already liking it more after three episodes than the whole previous season. The funny thing is, that it once again has a very stressful element (=deadline) looming over the characters, but it's not as stressful to watch?

The Institute from Stephen King has been on my "to read" list ever since it came out, but I never got around to buying it. Well, now there's a show based on it. The first two episodes are out and I'm definitely intrigued, but so far it's not exactly groundbreaking television. Obviously, not everything has to be, but this is a bit bland.

[yourlibrarian]

So much of King's work seems to be a miss in adaptations, at least in my experience.

[shadowkat]

I'd agree - The Bear S4 is a lot less stressful to watch, and in some respects more amusing. The wedding episode is delightful. I love S4.

[feurioo]

I recently saw The Institute appear on The Guardian's Stephen King’s TV adaptations – rated bad to best list, but the first episode didn't really manage to draw me in. I'll be following your watch reports.

[rekishi]

I've been watching "A Discovery of Witches" the last few weeks. I really enjoyed how it started the first few episodes but would have much preferred that the UST continue a bit longer. I thought once they actually became a couple, some of the allure went away. I also wished the whole science aspect of it would have come up before Season 3.

(I did not, of course, read the books beforehand.)

Overall it was an interesting take on vampires/witches/demons, though!

[yourlibrarian]

A friend had been quite taken with the show though I don't know how far she got in it.

[shadowkat]

I'd agree. Felt much the same way. I felt they got together too quickly. And I'd have liked the mystery aspect to have lasted longer. I also didn't read the books beforehand. (I've not read them at all - although I do have them on the Kindle).

And yup, I liked its take on vampires/witches/demons - it was innovative. And interesting world building - different than most.

(I saw all three seasons. What was interesting is they cast Mathew Goode - who is sexy in a different way as the vampire love interest, and not hunky guy. Goode actually looks like he could be a vampire. I like Goode - which is why I watched it, partly.)

[violateraindrop]

I have to admit, that the main thing I remember about the show is how cheesy it was.

The first episode was probably my favorite, because Teresa and Matthew played the UST so well. Their chemistry really carried the show.

[tinny]

I was still terribly stressed and my stress-watching is usually things I never planned on watching in the first place. I got very lucky with the choices this week. I watched two BLs that I can absolutely rec.

1) Ballboy Tactics, a Korean BL on iQiyi - Han Jiwon, retired gymnast, meets Kwon Jeongeu, their university's most popular basketball player. It's a very slow, thoughtful drama with a lot of internal dialogue. There's communication and sweetness instead of unnecessary drama and tropey staged scenes. I loved it a lot! There are barely any external obstacles (depending on how you count the base setup of homophobia in sports), it's all in their heads - I found that awesome! I absolutely rec this show. It has only eight 25-minute episodes, and I went through it in two days.

2) When it rains, it pours, a Japanese BL on Viki - Hagiwara lives in a frustrating sexless relationship with his girlfriend, while his colleague Sei lives with his best friend from childhood on whom he has an unrequited crush. They connect via a wrongly addressed email, and start confessing their problems to each other. There's a lot of talk about sex, which surprised me - it's very blunt and honest for a Japanese drama. There's also actual sex, and I really enjoyed the sex-first-romance-later plot here. Both characters are interesting, and I found the actor who played Hagiwara, Muto Jun, especially good. It's even shorter than the other one with only 7 25-minute episodes. CW for rape and infidelity.

Last but not least, my watchalong finally started When A Snail Falls in Love, with a few weeks' delay. It's an old cdrama with Wang Kai and Wang Ziwen. I'm enjoying how much more Chinese I understand now than when I first watched this seven years ago. The only thing that confused us is the weirdly unfitting soundtrack. Sometimes it tries to pass the show off as a Bond film (which is fair enough), but other times we were completely unable to figure out why the music was chosen the way it was. Nothing unusual for cdrama, though, and it's not going to stop us. :)

Ooops, I forgot to mention that I finished Murderbot. Contrary to some others, I very much liked the last ep, and think they stuck the landing perfectly. I was unhappy with several episodes in the middle of the season, but by the end I have to say that overall I enjoyed it very much.

[shadowkat]

I'd agree - I liked the ending of the Murderbot series, I thought it drug in the middle more. The last episode was rather interesting.

[feurioo]

Watched When it rains, it pours in its entirety this afternoon. Unfortunately, I completely missed your CW for rape; otherwise, I would have been better prepared for that. I loved the slow development of the leads' relationship, as well as the discussion with the girlfriend in episode 6. A little more time for tenderness at the end would have been nice, but all in all, I enjoyed this show a lot.

[olivermoss]

* I'm watching Lee Pace in amazing outfits... I mean, Foundation. Really enjoying the series. I never read the stories it's based on so I am curious to see how things wrap up.

* Other than that, most just waiting for Heated Rivalry and Stranger Things.

[china_shop]

I'm watching Lee Pace in amazing outfits... I mean, Foundation.

Hee! :D

[shadowkat]

I'm watching Lee Pace in amazing outfits... I mean, Foundation

Or the lack of any outfit at all...he has a lovely scene where he fights off a bunch of killers stark naked.

[china_shop]

We finished Étoile, which I had issues with (only liked a couple of the characters in a large ensemble cast), started The Residence, and watched a bunch of Bluey, which is such a palate-cleanser. My sister and I are continuing Fringe season 1.

In Kdramas, First Night with the Duke wasn't holding my interest so I switched to a rewatch of the Cdrama Nothing But Love, which is a younger guy/older woman romance set in the world of professional tennis (starts out badminton, but switches). The leads are adorable. <3

[tinny]

I agree on the Duke - but I haven't seen Nothing But Love. I will check it out! eta: It seems to be called Nothing But You - looks like that's it from the summary. (I have not seen it either way :D) Ha, I see... the Chinese title 爱情而已 means Nothing But Love. Ah, well.

The Residence is very quirky, I thought it was a lot of fun, and I watched it relatively quickly.

[yourlibrarian]

Another week with a ton of viewing.

In shows started but not yet finished, Girls on the Bus about female political reporters following a presidential campaign has a nice diversity of characters. It's also interesting to pick up details from actual candidate reporting. Am also quite enjoying Julia about the launch of her famous cooking show. Am only up to Ep 4 but was amused at the casting of both David Hyde Pierce and Bebe Neuwirth. I've also been watching Dog House, a UK show about a dog adoption center. Just finishing S1 and who doesn't want to see a variety of dogs looking for homes?

In completed but not really watched was The New Pope which finished with the expectation of another season, Gotham season 5 which finished in a place everyone might expect, Tom Swift which definitely got cancelled too soon story wise, and His Dark Materials which had an interesting ending but left open a sequel.

There were 2 I gave up on completely: Pennyworth, I'd seen most of S1 and just found it violent and unpleasant and yet also not that interesting. Skipped to the end and couldn't even finish that episode. Also watched an episode of Otter Dynasty but wasn't keen on its first person voices and it just seemed rather repetitive.

Did watch all of Hacks season 2 and felt rewarded for that. The last few episodes took it where the audience wanted to go and it felt really satisfying. Also sadly true to life about women having to gamble on themselves when no one else will as the Julia series is also revealing.

In movies, I finished Phil Spector which was fine, and it made me wonder if it had been a play first, it had that air. The way it finished was rather odd, very anticlimactic. Also watched another "drawn from real events" movie, RKO 281 which looked at the drama surrounding Citizen Kane's development mostly from Wells and Hearsts' POV. It had quite the cast and left the impression that the two men weren't that unalike, just in different posititions. Skimmed through a lot of Bernard and Doris, based on the life of Doris Duke and her butler Bernard. Wasn't all that interesting, especially since there wasn't much surprising or scandalous in it by 2025.

[shadowkat]

Where's Dog House airing, and where is RKO 281? Both look interesting. I couldn't get all the way through Gotham and His Dark Materials for some reason? I watched S1-2 for His Dark, and S1 for Gotham, but lost both after that. I think my difficulty with His Dark is the same issue I had with the books - I liked the first and second book, but lost the story thread in the third - where it got a bit busy and preachy. I could be wrong about the series going that route, though.

[starfleetbrat]

The Great British Sewing Bee is back for Season 11, one of my fav shows. Everyone is so nice and fun, its like the pottery throwdown but with sewing!

Our Welsh Chapel Dream - has Keith Brymer Jones from Pottery Throwdown and his partner Marj in it, they buy a 160 yr old dilapidated chapel in Wales and the show is about them converting the sunday school and other rooms into a residence and pottery studio, and the main chapel into a public space. S1 was pretty much just an introduction, getting planning permission, gutting a lot of the rooms etc. S2 was converting the residence. S3 hasn't aired yet but will probably focus on the pottery studio and public space. It was very good though, showcased the local area and the quirky personalities of Keith and Marj. I really loved some of the choices they made! Only 4 eps a season.

Recipes for Love and Murder S1 and S2 - which was a South African/Scottish production based on the books. About a writer named Tannie who does a Dear Abbey style column for a small local newspaper, and she replies with a recipe to help the people. There's also some murder mysteries and a mystery from Tannie's past. Has Maria Doyle Kennedy in it as Tannie.

Untamed - binged S1 and it was fine. It didn't feel long, but not a long happened? Sorta felt like it could have been a single episode of a different show. Liked all the characters though. I'd watch a S2 if it happened.

Star Trek New Worlds - first two eps. Second ep was pretty funny. Bit disappointed the disembodied voice at the end was just a voice and not an appearance, but it was fun to have an ep with that species of people in it.

UK series The Feud and For Her Sins both of which were your standard thrillers with secrets and mysteries. Good to watch though.

[shadowkat]

Oh, you have a few listed here that I want to see. I may have to hope they come over here (US). Our Welsh Chapel Dream, the Great British Sewing Bee, Recipes for Love and Murder.

[shadowkat]

1. Tried two formulaic procedurals - Countdown on Prime, and Tracker on Hulu. For the same reason - I wanted to see Jensen Anckles, who I like. But alas, he gets roles in formulaic procedurals. He's in the 12th episode of Tracker - S2, I think, I hunted for it. You can watch the series out of order, it's episodic. And most of the focus is on the problem of the week. And I'm more of a serial - emotional character arc fan than puzzle of the week fan, unless the puzzle is really twist and good, and written by someone like Stephen Moffat. Countdown - is, sigh, formula. And uses a lot of tired worn out tropes - cowboy, in your face, troubled undercover detective with brain tumor, addicted wounded female detective - both have chemistry through the charts. I'm tempted to continue, because I like the cast, and I like Jensen Anckles. Also it's a serial procedural - which works better for me, formulaic, yes, but with tropes I admittedly enjoy - a la the wounded suffering hero trope.

2. The movie Sinners which is on HBO Max now, by Ryan Coogler, stars Michael Jordan as twin brothers, with Delroy Lindo, and Hailee Steinfeild. It's a musical historical vampire horror film with Rhythm and Blues, Blue Grass, and Irish Folk music. Kind of creepy listening to a bunch of vampires singing Pick Poor Robin Clean.
And...Rocky Road to Dublin. It takes place in 1931 at the beginning of the depression in the American South, far below the Mason-Dixon Line, near cotton plantations. We're not told the town. And it has among the best cinematography that I've seen in a long time. I was blown away with some of the images. Drags a bit in the beginning, I admittedly kept dosing off during it - then well into the second half it suddenly becomes Night of the Living Dead with singing and dancing vampires. Borrows heavily from a lot of films, but with an innovative twist on old tropes.

3. Gilded Age S3 - it's dropping episodes a bit too slowly for my liking. It was slow to start, but has taken off. Feels like a more historically accurate and a little less romanticized Downton Abbey, except in the US. Still focuses a bit more on classicism than racism or other issues, much like Downton did.

4. White Lotus S3 - which I like better than the previous two seasons. (I've not made it past episode 1 of S1 - so really just saw S2. And first episode of S3. I kept falling asleep during S2.) The characters don't irritate me as much? Or I find them more interesting? Of course, it's also the actors - the cast this season is rather appealing. We have Jason Isaccs, Walter Goggins, Carrie Coon, Parker Posey, and Natasha Rothwell. Also Sam Rockwell is in it. And it's in Thailand - which is more interesting to me than Hawaii or Italy. Each season has a staff member from the White Lotus in Hawaii pop up at the new place. And they are more or less the main protagonist. It's a hyper-realistic social satire - the people aren't supposed to be likable, and there's emphasis on the annoying rich traveler - kind of like the film Triangle of Sadness?

5. Still rewatching Buffy...Helpless S3 - which holds up well, and is rather well written - it's also biting satire in places, and has a bit of a mean streak. But excellent performances. And the villain of the week is played by the great character actor, Jeff Kober. We also get more focus on Giles and the Watcher Council - and Head is given a bit more to chew on. We see less of Xander, Willow, and Oz, and more of Buffy, Angel, Giles, and Cordelia, and Joyce. It has some cringe lines, but they are meant to be cringe - and the characters squash them.

6. And flirting with Outlander - mainly because the writing and performances are good, and it's a good historical - with two interesting lesser done historical periods, post-WWII and early 18th Century. And I like the medical science - in the 1940s vs. the 1800s. I struggled with Clair in the book, it's why I gave up on the books, but the actress who plays her in the series is very good.
Two episodes into S2. May continue.

7.Andor S2 - making my way slowly through it. I've finished up to Episode 7. So starting the next arc probably tomorrow.

[I finished Murderbot last weekend. And holding off on Foundation until I'm in the mood.]

[jo]

I struggled with Clair in the book, it's why I gave up on the books, but the actress who plays her in the series is very good.

TV Claire is a million times better than book Claire. Gabaldon never developed/develops her character properly, probably because she's just the tool to tell Jamie's story. Catriona Balfe delivers some brilliant performances throughout the series, so my recommendation is to keep watching

[feurioo]

I'm watching:
KRANK Berlin (Berlin ER): On AppleTV+. I recommend it!
S Line: The fourth episode was almost incomprehensible due to bad subtitles. I might rewatch it with better ones.
The Summer Hikaru Died E3: Still very intriguing! I love the tension between the two main characters.
Takopi's Original Sin E3+4: One of the most depressing anime I've ever seen.

Looking forward to the release of Heretic, Companion, and Nosferatu on WOW.

Edit: I also attempted to watch Rich Flu, but I thought the first 30 minutes were terrible.