TV/Movies Megathread

[Sheilbh]

So I finished the Crown and I have an issue with their portrayal of Thatcher (shocked gasps).

Basically [spoiler]I have an issue with her wars. She accidentally escalates the situation leading to the Falklands War in part because she's too distracted and emotion and motherly (the woman! ) which I think is a bit tonally weird. In reality the events didn't overlap and I think she does bear some blame for the Falklands but it's because she cut the budget for the UK's naval presence in the South Atlantic which the Argentine junta took as a weakening/lack of commitment to defend the Falklands.[/spoiler]

[spoiler]The other one is the Gulf war where it's shown as a sort of response to the leadership challenge, which I think does her a bit of a disservice. And I think it avoids some of the drama of the plots against her. The leadership challenge was launched while she was out of the country. It was such a surprise for outsiders that the King of Saudi assumed that there was a military coup and I believe the NATO Supreme Commander was stunned by it and joked about what sort of country gets rid of their leader while they're overseas, during a war. She wasn't sat in Downing Street when she found out, she was in a foreign Embassy.[/spoiler]

And I wonder if it's a structural issue with the show. It can't really deal with domestic politics unless there's some encounter they can hang it onto (like the palace intruder incident, or Churchill's secretary) or a national tragedy like Aberfan (and, I assume, the same will happen with Dunblane). The characters are too distant from the domestic realities so the politicians in the show are seen too much from foreign policy issues and, on her wars, Thatcher was right [spoiler](and not an over-emotional woman distracted by her kids)[/spoiler] but you only see the other stuff generally through characters watching TV. It is particularly mindblowing to see an 80s drama with no mention of the miners' strike. [spoiler]Also I think the Queen may have had some issues with Thatcher, especially on a personal level, but the idea the royal family are secret lefties who weren't fans of her is mind-boggling. I remember an old anecdote that the Queen Mother would show her views on PMs by how high she held her G&T when talking about them - Thatcher was very, very high and Blair would get put down.[/spoiler]

[Syt]

I'm 6 episodes into Arrested Development. Does the show pick up eventually? Because so far it's not really grabbing me at all and at best elicits a mild chuckle.

[Tamas]

I'm 6 episodes into Arrested Development. Does the show pick up eventually? Because so far it's not really grabbing me at all and at best elicits a mild chuckle.

I found the very first episode terrible beyond belief and have given up on the series.

[celedhring]

I'm 6 episodes into Arrested Development. Does the show pick up eventually? Because so far it's not really grabbing me at all and at best elicits a mild chuckle.

I love it but yeah, if you didn't like the first 6 eps then I'd drop it. It doesn't fundamentally change.

[Syt]

It's not that I think it's terrible, it's just that it feels quite "meh." The cast are fine, but the scripts, while quirky, just leave me quite cold. Maybe I will revisit later when I'm in a different headspace.

I just looked up the first six episodes of Community, and I've retained more contents from them a few weeks ago than from AD that I watched today. And while it started slow compared to the second half of Season 1 I felt more engaged, not least thanks to the dialogue on the show.

[Tonitrus]

The 2018 Lost in Space...

So far, I think it's pretty good.  Except the Dr. Smith charachter...as used, is a completely useless, unnecessary, waste of screen times.  I try not to pile criticism on the actress...but she does the role terribly as well, even with the crap given to work with.  Not even a smidgen believable and impossible to suspend disbelief the other characters don't see through her (as played).

The rest of the cast is quite good, though.  Even the kid/Will Robinson is not annoying at all...never an easy feat that shows of this type pull off well.

[Admiral Yi]

The Fagan episode of The Crown was quite good.  Very believable bed room interaction.

[Tonitrus]

Except Fagan himself said it's bullshit and that there essentially was no interaction. 

[The Brain]

How Dickensian.

[Josephus]

Watched two episodes of the new Crown season. Seems to me they're going a bit with a more exaggerated feel this season. I think Gillian Anderson's portrayal of Thatcher is over the top. Even her tone of voice. A bit too exaggerated. And the Royals bumbling about and playing parlour games at Balmoral-- I don't know, to me feels almost like a parody.
Someone mentioned how in episode 4 you get to see a mouse. I'm wondering if the production department is taking the piss. In episode two, when Anne is riding the horse, I swear that when she passes the spectator stands it is pretty clear the spectators are wooden cutouts.

[Syt]

I've watched one more episode of Arrested Development and called it quits for good. Not sure what the issue is. I notice the jokes and gags, and I realize that in another context I would find them quite funny, but for some reason not in this show. I speculated that maybe the unlikability of the characters is an issue. But Schitt's Creek's characters start out quite obnoxious and it didn't push me away. Neither did Peep Show whose characters are all pretty messed up and bad. It's an enigma.

I wasn't sure what to go with next. Parks & Recreation and The Good Place are on my list, but I went with Brooklyn 99 instead. Three episodes in I like this already a lot better than AD.

That said, I might return to AD at some point. It took me 4 or 5 attempts over multiple years to get into modern Battlestar Galactica, so there's hope.

[celedhring]

I'll ignore all the AD slander because I like you 

Parks & Rec is a great show, but it takes a season for it to get going. Good Place has truly amazing first few seasons, but it loses steam as it goes on (imho). I would really check it out, though.

[Syt]

I'll ignore all the AD slander because I like you 

As I said, I can see the craft going into it, but some of it feels a bit too predictable, and the weirdness doesn't grab me like on other shows. Stuff like the softball game turning into a bloodbath, or Gob made to watch his parents bone and his whole "break out of jail" bit, or the "never nude" stuff - normally I would be completely into such shenanigans, but here I just can't connect with it and I can't figure out why. I presume the problem is on my end, since so many people swear by this show's first three seasons as a pinnacle of comedy.

[Tamas]

Parks and Recreation is awesome, but you have to stick through the first season which is quite meh. Then it gets rapidly better from the start of season 2.

[Sheilbh]

I like Brooklyn 99 a lot. And yeah Parks and Rec is great but the first season is a bit of a chore.