The Netflix Thread

[Mycroft]

Hmmm. A new "Umbrella Academy."

[Brucebubs]

If you can handle bad language, and I mean BAD then 'After Life' written, directed and starring Ricky Gervais is quite stunning.

It's an emotional roller coaster covering some very hard topics we experience in life.

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by ewalling

I enjoyed Stranger Things recently, too. Anyone else like it?

I watched the first season of Stranger Things when it came out - great show! I only got partway through season 2 but I'll pick it up once I subscribe to Netflix again, which should be in the next couple of months (currently watching shows on Disney Plus and Prime).

[foxo]

Originally Posted by Brucebubs

If you can handle bad language, and I mean BAD then 'After Life' written, directed and starring Ricky Gervais is quite stunning.

It's an emotional roller coaster covering some very hard topics we experience in life.

Seconding this, it’s great. I’m Scottish, bad language is like water off a duck’s back to me.

[619TF]

Originally Posted by foxo

Seconding this, it’s great. I’m Scottish, bad language is like water off a duck’s back to me.

I'm originally from the East Coast USA and I'm still trying to figure out what "bad language" even is! I'm guessing it's when someone mumbles so much they're tough to understand? After all, words aren't "bad" or "good". They're just words.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

I watched the first season of Stranger Things when it came out - great show! I only got partway through season 2 but I'll pick it up once I subscribe to Netflix again, which should be in the next couple of months (currently watching shows on Disney Plus and Prime).

I liked it a lot. I've never read Ambrose Bierce, but I remember my brother saying once that many of his stories centered around a dark, evil world that lurked beneath the surface of our own and whose creatures would occasionally cross over. That's the fundamental story of Stranger Things, and they manage to create a real sense of spooky unease, I think.

Some good characters, too. The girl who plays Eleven is excellent, I think. Wynona Ryder looks a little odd, though. She looks like an ex-substance abuser - she that faraway look, even when she's being passionate or angry.

[Dirk Hofman]

Originally Posted by ewalling

I liked it a lot. I've never read Ambrose Bierce, but I remember my brother saying once that many of his stories centered around a dark, evil world that lurked beneath the surface of our own and whose creatures would occasionally cross over. That's the fundamental story of Stranger Things, and they manage to create a real sense of spooky unease, I think.

Some good characters, too. The girl who plays Eleven is excellent, I think. Wynona Ryder looks a little odd, though. She looks like an ex-substance abuser - she that faraway look, even when she's being passionate or angry.

Agreed on both counts, Eleven is great. Ryder has always been a mystery to me. Monotone delivery, and you nailed it, something just not...there, there. Never understood the appeal. My brother who is a die-hard film guy loves her, which mystifies me. She does kinda look like his wife, which may explain it as much as anything.

Not as wild about this season as the others, but great show overall. I'm much more interested in the Hopper story than I am in all the rest at this point. But I kind of look like Hopper (or so I'm told) so maybe that's it. I do like the character, tough, fallible, human, vulnerable. Good dude.

[Dirk Hofman]

I watched "Hustle" last night, a film about an NBA scout who dreams of coaching and is seeking a gem of a player who can pull the Sixers into the elite of the league. He finds a kid on a street court in Spain who might fit the bill.

Produced by LeBron James and Adam Sandler, and starring Sandler, it also features Queen Latifah as his wife, and a huge cast of NBA pros filling out roles as themselves or in a few cases other characters (Kenny Smith, others). Dr. J makes an appearance or two, as well as some other old time players. Tons of current NBA guys fill out the cast.

I enjoyed it. The kid he finds is charismatic and the basketball scenes are well done. Sandler's daughter is a sweetheart. The plot is a bit obvious, but it's well done. Sandler, the kid, and Latifah are all quite good. If you like basketball it's a good watch. If you post on threads about how you think Steph Curry is someone you ignore or dislike for some reason, maybe not so much.

Trailer:

[boombox]

We binge-watched Stranger Things Season 4 Volume 1 and enjoyed all the in-jokes and parallels with Season 1, but have to wait until next month for Volume 2. Millie Bobby Brown is indeed great as Eleven (and her 'Enola Holmes' film is good fun too and they've announced a follow-up.) What we have noticed is just how much she resembles Winona Ryder now. Our favourite characters though aren't the main kids, with the exception of Eleven and Max: for us, it's Hopper, Murray, Robin and Steve.

As for Umbrella Academy, we just watched the first two episodes of Season 3 tonight - completely mad and we are already arguing about how it's going to end, with a few theories. Don't watch it if you can't tolerate some really bad language!

[Dru Edwards]

Originally Posted by ewalling

I liked it a lot. I've never read Ambrose Bierce, but I remember my brother saying once that many of his stories centered around a dark, evil world that lurked beneath the surface of our own and whose creatures would occasionally cross over. That's the fundamental story of Stranger Things, and they manage to create a real sense of spooky unease, I think.

Some good characters, too. The girl who plays Eleven is excellent, I think. Wynona Ryder looks a little odd, though. She looks like an ex-substance abuser - she that faraway look, even when she's being passionate or angry.

I've never heard of Ambrose Bierce before but I'm going to check him out. I'm a big fan of HP Lovecraft and that sounds like his style.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

Agreed on both counts, Eleven is great. Ryder has always been a mystery to me. Monotone delivery, and you nailed it, something just not...there, there. Never understood the appeal. My brother who is a die-hard film guy loves her, which mystifies me. She does kinda look like his wife, which may explain it as much as anything.

Not as wild about this season as the others, but great show overall. I'm much more interested in the Hopper story than I am in all the rest at this point. But I kind of look like Hopper (or so I'm told) so maybe that's it. I do like the character, tough, fallible, human, vulnerable. Good dude.

Yes, Ryder was an odd presence in the series. I wondered if she was there principally for star kudos or maybe even as some kind of casting favour. But for me, she failed the fundamental question we subconsciously ask of any acting performance: do I believe it? As I said, she had that look in the eyes of an ex-substance abuser, as though she was disconnected from the role, from the present moment, and for that reason I thought that maybe she had had some addiction problems somewhere between Coppola's Dracula and now. I don't remember too many other roles, I have to say.

I agree about Hopper - he did the good-guy-with-issues thing really well and with humour. I thought the kids were good, too, and I liked the way we saw them grow up some between series. As well as the main story, we got an interesting sub-story about them maturing and the difficulties involved in that. Mike's mon deserves some mention, too, as the hot but devoted mom whose marriage was a bit lackluster. If she'd followed the cliche, she would have had an affair with the wild boy; her restraint gave the character added integrity for me. Plus, she was great eye-candy!

[Sage97]

Originally Posted by ewalling

Viking Valhalla came to a bit of an abrupt end last night. A portion of the heroes and villains have been variously slain, but a core of honorable characters, eagerly awaiting an injection of sponsorship funds, still remains to oust the forces of evil and continue with their work!

I liked Vikings Valhalla. Hope it comes back soon.

[Sage97]

Originally Posted by Taylor814

I really enjoyed Dark as well. It's one of the few three season TV series that I've watched that really came up with a clever and satisfying ending. I think dubbing would be terrible; you really have to hear the German even if you don't understand it. I got by with German subtitles and my high school German, only going to English subtitles when necessary.

Watching this one right now. I’m not German but can’t stand dubbing so I’m watching in German and reading subtitles.

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Dru Edwards

I've never heard of Ambrose Bierce before but I'm going to check him out. I'm a big fan of HP Lovecraft and that sounds like his style.

Hang on, I think I'm confusing Ambrose Bierce with H.P. Lovecraft there! Whoops!

[ewalling]

Originally Posted by Sage97

I liked Vikings Valhalla. Hope it comes back soon.

Me too!

Right now I'm watching a pretty good British drama called Anatomy of a Scandal. It involves a rape case which has the audience wondering ... did he do it, or didn't he? No spoilers please - I'm not at the end yet - but I'm skeptical as to how the verdict could possibly swing in the favour of the accused rapist man, given the social climate we now inhabit. That sort of spoils the 'whodunnit' aspect of the series, but who knows - I may be wrong!