Culture consumed in quarantine

[mr. logic]

Mad Men is, in my opinion, the only one of these things that truly stuck the ending.

[Blue Jam]

Mad Men is pretty damn perfect. I have somehow managed to avoid spoilers but I can't imagine the writers didn't get the ending just right.

Not like Seinfeld. I love Seinfeld and really enjoyed going through all nine seasons until those last two episodes, grrrr.

[Twit 2]

I am starting season 3 of Fargo. I remember thinking that season 1 was ok/good and season 2 really good. I tried to remember what happened in season 2 and all I could come up with was "Jesse Plemmons is a butcher." What's the point in watching anything?

[Head Gardener]

CiS062//The Isolation Tapes:

Castles in Space brings you a stunning collection of new music recorded in isolation during the COVID19 lockdown//Released 29th May 2020//
A total of 50 tracks across CD//Cassette//Download selected from more than 250 submissions.

// A charity compilation in aid of the Cavell Nurses' Trust//
// Listen/download:
// shorturl.at/pBGMY //

[MinnieTimperley]

The entire ITV landmark series, The World At War. Seen it as a kid, carried much more impact being older. Larrie Olivier's scintillating sometimes stark commentary actually gives you goosebumps at times. Steals the show even from the Polish Commandos at Monte Casino. Superb and highly recommended

[Thomas]

Re: Twin Peaks season 2

There's a 30-minute recap video here which I haven't actually watched myself (because I GREW A FACKIN PAIR and subjected myself to the entire season despite having been told how awful it gets) but it seems passable if you can't be fucked to endure it all. The speed and tone of the guy's voice is fucking annoying though so maybe set the playback speed to 0.75 to make it a slightly more bearable experience than sitting through roughly half a day's worth of really bad Twin Peaks episodes.

Like a man re-enlisted for the Second World War, I've been through series 2 twice.

Fire Walk With Me has, for some reason, developed a similar 'I've heard it's rubbish' reputation, but I think it's such an atmospheric, important piece of the puzzle, and - taken as its own thing - an effective, nightmarish mediation on abuse.

Mad Men is pretty damn perfect. I have somehow managed to avoid spoilers but I can't imagine the writers didn't get the ending just right.

I love the ending of Mad Men - but I also enjoy the fan theory that

Spoiler alert

Draper was D.B. Cooper. The show is replete with aeroplane imagery, too.

[close]

[buttgammon]

I love the ending of Mad Men - but I also enjoy the fan theory that

Spoiler alert

Draper was D.B. Cooper. The show is replete with aeroplane imagery, too.

[close]

Haha! Lovely idea, but surely

Spoiler alert

he'd have been less terrified in Ted's plane if he was that used to aviatory hijinks?

[close]

[Sebastian Cobb]

I've started watching The Eddy a drama about life in a Parisian Jazz Club. It's got a Cassavetes feel to it. Mixture of French and English dialogue as the main protagonist is a septic and the musicians are all waifs and strays.

I made a thread in PB as well.
https://www.cookdandbombd.co.uk/forums/index.php/topic,80296.0.html

[Captain Z]

Re: Twin Peaks, someone has made a fan edit called "Twin Peaks: The Northwest Passage" which does a pretty good job of combining just the important parts of S1 and S2 into around 5 hours of viewing. However, it ends with the reveal of Laura's killer, and misses some of the fairly decent stuff from the final three episodes of S2.

There's also the Q2 fan edit of FWWM which inserts most of the cut scenes back into their intended place, extending it to 3 hours. In my opinion, it makes the film much more interesting if you're prepared to concentrate for that long.

[Captain Crunch]

Two episodes in to Saxondale and I'm reserving judgement until I've seen a few more. 

[alan nagsworth]

Mad Men is, in my opinion, the only one of these things that truly stuck the ending.

I'm thankful that season 6, though affected by the writer's strike, wasn't enough of a dip in quality for me to give up on it.

Spoiler alert

The scene in therapy with the chap talking about the fridge light

[close]

absolutely devastated me, one of the most affecting scenes I think I've ever seen in anything.

Fire Walk With Me has, for some reason, developed a similar 'I've heard it's rubbish' reputation, but I think it's such an atmospheric, important piece of the puzzle, and - taken as its own thing - an effective, nightmarish mediation on abuse.

I find it bizarre that people would see it that way. I thought it was fantastic, completely gripping and immersive. It had that Tarkovsky quality of creating an otherworldly experience that quite literally had me wide-eyed and transfixed from start to finish.

[Blue Jam]

One of the joys of Better Call Saul is observing Jimmy McGill's ever-decreasing hair as it spirals towards Saul Goodman's revolting/amazing combover- the bad hair is a character in itself. Well, I now think Mad Men have outdone that show with Pete Campbell and his hair. From sharp-dressed, slicked-back chap-about-town to Ray Reardon peak to poorly-disguised hair iiiiiisland to proper pedal-bin hair in just one decade? I've still got five episodes to go, I can't possibly panic-buy enough popcorn for this:

https://youtu.be/lnDoZLce66E

[Sebastian Cobb]

One of the joys of Better Call Saul is observing Jimmy McGill's ever-decreasing hair as it spirals towards Saul Goodman's revolting/amazing combover- the bad hair is a character in itself. Well, I now think Mad Men have outdone that show with Pete Campbell and his hair. From sharp-dressed, slicked-back chap-about-town to Ray Reardon peak to poorly-disguised hair iiiiiisland to proper pedal-bin hair in just one decade? I've still got five episodes to go, I can't possibly panic-buy enough popcorn for this:

https://youtu.be/lnDoZLce66E

Partridge's hair lacks consistency. It's definitely non-canon in Alpha Papa.

[Captain Z]

Two episodes in to Saxondale and I'm reserving judgement until I've seen a few more.

I watched that for the first time too, a couple of weeks ago. S'ok, can't see myself ever needing to watch it again though. Also binged my way through:

Nighty Night - Brilliant, my favourite thing out of all the sitcoms I've discovered during lockdown.
Marion & Geoff - Another one I can't believe I ignored for so long. Rob Brydon is excellent, and the special is an interesting swerve.
Detectorists - Gentle, but very watchable. The kind of thing Ricky Gervais imagines he is making.
The Eric Andre Show - Might start a fresh thread on this, can't help draw several comparisons with Chris Morris, with a hint of Jackass and Tim & Eric.
The Moaning Of Life - Insightful, educational and funny. Much better than An Idiot Abroad. The bit where he gets prosthetic hair must be seen.
Sally 4ever - Nighty Night turned up to 11 12.
Sick Of It - Imagine Karl Pilkington: The Sitcom. You've just imagined Sick Of It. Pleasant, gentle, meh.
It's Always Sunny - Two series in, but it's not doing much for me.

Rewatched:
PhoneShop - Discovered the pilot episode that I'd not seen before and ended up rewatching the lot. Good times.
House Of Fools - Surprised how funny I found this upon re-watch, I remember the lukewarm reception at the time.
Spaced - Still great, more familiar than I expected. Thought it had been years since I last watched, but was quoting along on too many occasions.
Harry Hill's TV Burp - Remains good for longer than I expected, even the mammoth series 8 and 9 have a high hit rate. At series 10 they clearly just decided to coast.

[Small Man Big Horse]

It's Always Sunny - Two series in, but it's not doing much for me.

Season 3 is where it starts becoming outstanding for me, so I'd definitely recommend watching that and if by the end you're not a fan it's probably worth ditching.

[mr. logic]

In an awful dilemma with Game of Thrones at the moment. Only remotely bothered about the Lannisters but think they're such great characters that it would be a shame to give up on the whole show (most of which leaves me completely cold).

Watching alongside the Cookd Bombd threads. Is it just me that does this?

[Norton Canes]

+++ SPOILERS +++

Decided to finally catch up on the 2003-09 version of Battlestar Galactica. Watched the introductory miniseries and now eight episodes or so into season one. It's... good, mostly been pretty watchable, but I'm going off it a bit already. Perhaps I've seen it hyped so much that I'm over-expectant. I think the main problem, conceptually, is that the episodes, although obviously part of the ongoing story are self-contained, and I'm not getting any sense of the constant, all-pervasive paranoia and panic that should be engendered by the possibility of absolutely anyone being a Cylon. It all seems a bit by-numbers and lacking inspiration. For instance, in one episode the President is told by the Cylon agent they interrogate that Adama is an agent; and at the start of the very next episode, with no time for the tension to build at all, she confronts him and we get an awful scene where they just go "You take the test first", "No, you take the test first". One problem is that although the story concerns a convoy of dozens of ships with ~40,000 people on board, the episodes concentrate on the same few characters, instead of showing the bigger picture. I get that the budget wasn't limitless and the focus allows us to explore those characters but still, it's a narrow and kind of unsatisfying field.

There's been much to enjoy as well, I liked the interrogation episode and the one exploring the history of Starbuck and Adama's son. The opening miniseries was great. The cast are mostly impressive. The best aspect has been the space battle scenes, which pretty much redefine how space dogfights are depicted - the near-silence, the crash zooms, the fact that the craft have to use retro-rockets to steer are all fantastic innovations. Ironic that where the original movie/series was (almost?) sued by George Lucas for nicking the space battle techniques from Star Wars, this incarnation has gone on to improve those techniques no end.

More than anything though I reckon the one thing that will put me off altogether is the constant interaction between Gaius Balthar and Half a Dozen of the Other, or whatever she's called. Yes, we get she's not really there, but, please, find a way of filming Balthar's scenes so that his dialogue with her doesn't involve disrupting his communication with other characters to a ridiculous degree. It was a fantastic twist to see her appear in corporeal form in one of the episodes, only for that to become another infuriating one-episode idea.

Oh yeah, and I get that they wanted a cranky old-timer as first exec to Adama, to give him something to play off, but since we don't see any other high-ranking officers, the two of them come across as a constantly bickering couple.

I will watch the rest. Of the first season, at least. I've got to the one where Tighe's wife appears and I'm like, no, don't want another emotional upheaval type episode.

(It occurs to me that this might be the sort of thing that Steven Moffat could write well. If nothing else he's good at throwing in crazy twists that completely subvert your expectations (unless you've watched loads of his old series, natch), which is what the series needs more of.)

[Dex Sawash]

Watching alongside the Cookd Bombd threads. Is it just me that does this?

Have done for other stuff. Makes me wish short season shows with large CaB discussion had 1 thread per episode.

[Spiteface]

Finished season 1 of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure yesterday, comprising the Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency arcs.

Let's see... the main protagonist is of the Joestar bloodline, as well as having the nickname "JoJo" as well as descendents of the Zeppeli family or the Speedwagon foundation...
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure is just manga Blackadder.

I definitely can't be the only one to think this.
Fuck it, finishing Maskman before I watch season 2/Stardust Crusaders.

[Puce Moment]

It's the big one lads- that's right - The Sopranos.

I watched it through in 2006 and I have maintained since that it is the greatest TV drama ever made. So rewatching is coming with a certain amount of trepidation lest it not live up to my high claims.

Well, after 6 episodes I can confirm that it is indeed a work of incredible brilliance. A modern mob culture drama that deals with masculinity, capitalism, family and tradition in a completely engrossing and often very funny way.

The end of episode 6 is the party holding the crowing of Junior with all the Capos present. One of the waiters has a pin camera and then we go to the shot of the FBI room as the photos get moved around the board. It's spectacular.

[Blue Jam]

Partridge's hair lacks consistency. It's definitely non-canon in Alpha Papa.

To my great shame I had never given much thought to Alan Partridge's hair before now. The only time I had considered it at any length is when I noticed the lads from One Direction had Alan Partridge hair and none of the lads copying them when that haircut became fashionable seemed to have realised that they looked like a failed chat show host.

Also Vincent Kartheiser apparently has a lustrous mop of hair irl and he just balds up for the role of Pete Campbell. Brave:



Watching the final season of Mad Men has made the phrase "sordid little grief hole" pop into my head a lot. Almost as much as the Glinner thread.

[Pabst]

Is Northern Exposure worth bothering with? I've always been tempted but never enough to bother my arse.

Northern Exposure is one of my top 5 programs of all time, though a lot of that is probably tied up with nostalgia, takes a little while to get going, probably about halfway through the first series for the first great episode, really takes off in the second.  Best episodes are like perfect little films and, lots of them written by Robin Green and Mitchell Burgess who went on to write a lot of the best episodes of the sopranos. David Chase also joined the team later on, although he's apparently  to blame for it all falling apart a bit toward the end.

Basically very much not for everyone but all the characters and performances are incredible and endlessly rewatchable comfort viewing.

[Blue Jam]

Finished Mad Men. Great ending, yes.

It's the big one lads- that's right - The Sopranos.

Never watched a second of it before. Just signed up to the Now TV trial. Going in now...

[Blue Jam]

This is dead good.

[flotemysost]

I've also started watching The Sopranos for the first time and am enjoying it very much. The downside is that now I want to be eating meatballs, lasagne and cannoli and drinking red wine all the time.

[Dex Sawash]

Is Northern Exposure worth bothering with? I've always been tempted but never enough to bother my arse.

Also look up a little about Janine Turner so you don't go all mushy for her and then learn later that she is a

Spoiler alert

Trumper and nutjob of other sorts

[close]

[Blue Jam]

I've also started watching The Sopranos for the first time and am enjoying it very much. The downside is that now I want to be eating meatballs, lasagne and cannoli and drinking red wine all the time.

I'm like that, but minus the meatballs, lasagne and cannoli.

Three episodes in. Meadow Soprano is my favourite already.

[Dewt]

Gabagool.

[H-O-W-L]

Fire Walk With Me has, for some reason, developed a similar 'I've heard it's rubbish' reputation, but I think it's such an atmospheric, important piece of the puzzle, and - taken as its own thing - an effective, nightmarish mediation on abuse.

As a victim of both familial abuse and (non-familial) sexual abuse I honestly don't think any work has captured the mood of it or helped me anywhere near as much as FWWM has.

[Dewt]

I found it very difficult to watch but I'm a very a e s t h e t i c a l l y-focused and it has some real beauty in there. This puts me on all kinds of edge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neHe2NGhVQU

(don't watch if you haven't already seen FWWM)