TV/Movies Megathread

[mongers]

A Man On The Inside. By Michael Schur (The Office, The Good Place, Parks & Rec ... ). Starring Ted Danson, Stephanie Beatriz (Diaz from Brooklyn 99), Mary Elizabeth Ellis (the Waitress from Always Sunny), plus Sally Struthers (All in the Family), Eugene Cordero (Pillboi from Good Place, Rutherford on Lower Decks), Susan Ruttam (LA Law), Mark Evan Jackson ...

Ted Danson is a widower taking a job with a private investigator to infiltrate a retirement community to help catch a jewelry thief.

Very cute and wholesome, quite heartfelt, and I'M NOT CRYING DURING THE LAST EPISODE!

I guess with all of us getting up in age, it starts hitting closer to home.

An enjoyable, slow paced cozy watch.

Thanks for the headup, will make a nice contrast once I finish 'Breaking Bad' 

[Duque de Bragança]

28 Years Later (2025)

Spoilers!




Lore, much more lore!

Good and bad news compared to 28 Weeks later.
 
Teletubbies = true horror comes, Little England (around Josq's Norf) plus Henry V at Azincourt, total Brexit which not even Nigel Farage would have accepted despite NATO & EU forces manning borders; Chavs & (Jimmy) Saville (had to check because I thought I was missing a reference).

Yes, two movies shot back to back, with a third one planned. Second part in early 2026. An enlightened opinion will be easier to formulate then. I like it, with some chances taken, but let's see how it ends.

Not for the faint of heart, banned to people under 16 over here.
Nice reference to Predator.

[Gups]

Thoroughly enjoying watching 'Breaking Bad' for the 2nd time, last episode I watched last night was 'The Fly', where he faces off against a fly that's 'contaminating' his lab.

This evening, some large flies started appearing downstairs, traced their origin to an old family  plant of some age, remember that same thing happened last summer when the heat/humidity reached about what it is now.

So I went medieval on them, swatter, anti-aphid spray (only thing to hand) and banishing the plant to the garden solved it, but it surprised me just how instinctively the 'old dead eyes of a killer' response kicked in. 

Then I recognised the coincidence, talk about life imitating art! 

I'm rewatching BB (third time) following immediately on from a rewatch of BCS. Lots of references/recurring characters I missed before

[mongers]

Thoroughly enjoying watching 'Breaking Bad' for the 2nd time, last episode I watched last night was 'The Fly', where he faces off against a fly that's 'contaminating' his lab.

This evening, some large flies started appearing downstairs, traced their origin to an old family  plant of some age, remember that same thing happened last summer when the heat/humidity reached about what it is now.

So I went medieval on them, swatter, anti-aphid spray (only thing to hand) and banishing the plant to the garden solved it, but it surprised me just how instinctively the 'old dead eyes of a killer' response kicked in. 

Then I recognised the coincidence, talk about life imitating art! 

I'm rewatching BB (third time) following immediately on from a rewatch of BCS. Lots of references/recurring characters I missed before

Yep, that's what I did as well.

And as you say, plenty of references to pick up, plus I've a greater appreciation of some of the character subtleties, especially Skyler.

[Syt]

S4 of The Bear. S3 was a bit overly "big" IMO with guest stars (John Cena! famous chefs!), but seems the writers strike forced things to go "small" again, focusing on personal drama and hang ups. It's very slow paced, with many drawn out dialogues - unlike previous seasons which caused me mild anxiety with its stressful kitchen scenes (best exemplified by S3's "Doors").

It works for me with its drive for arthouse-ish psycho-drama, but YMMV (A LOT!).

[celedhring]

I loved The Bear S1/2, but eventually watching a show about people destroying themselves and their partners emotionally and even physically in pursuit of the phantom of professional greatness was a slightly uncomfortable watch. 

[Syt]

I loved The Bear S1/2, but eventually watching a show about people destroying themselves and their partners emotionally and even physically in pursuit of the phantom of professional greatness was a slightly uncomfortable watch. 

Too close to home?

S4 is more wholesome and has the characters trying to overcome that - a lot more upbeat IMO.

[Zoupa]

I couldn't get past the first 20 minutes of the first episode of season 1.

I think Anthony Bourdain was a cool dude, but this veneration of food and the chef culture is so cringe. It feels like a show for white hipsters.

[HVC]

I couldn't get past the first 20 minutes of the first episode of season 1.

I think Anthony Bourdain was a cool dude, but this veneration of food and the chef culture is so cringe. It feels like a show for white hipsters.

I blame Michelin.

[Josquius]

I couldn't get past the first 20 minutes of the first episode of season 1.

I think Anthony Bourdain was a cool dude, but this veneration of food and the chef culture is so cringe. It feels like a show for white hipsters.

I was similar my first watch. Got a few episodes into series 1 but it just hadn't clicked. It was going nowhere.

I started again though and got into it.
I see it like... Yeah it's about restaurant operations which doesn't interest me at all.... But then my gf likes Ted lasso and has zero interest in football.
The moments of food porn do nothing for me but as an overall drama it works.

[Syt]

I couldn't get past the first 20 minutes of the first episode of season 1.

I think Anthony Bourdain was a cool dude, but this veneration of food and the chef culture is so cringe. It feels like a show for white hipsters.

I was similar my first watch. Got a few episodes into series 1 but it just hadn't clicked. It was going nowhere.

I started again though and got into it.
I see it like... Yeah it's about restaurant operations which doesn't interest me at all.... But then my gf likes Ted lasso and has zero interest in football.
The moments of food porn do nothing for me but as an overall drama it works.

Pretty much this.

[Tamas]

I couldn't get past the first 20 minutes of the first episode of season 1.

I think Anthony Bourdain was a cool dude, but this veneration of food and the chef culture is so cringe. It feels like a show for white hipsters.

I gave up I think near the end of s2 when the realisation hit me that they were hiding a pretty weak and standard story with constant shouting and stress.

[Josquius]

Black Mirror Playthings is good. Silly. But good. Lovely retro vibes.

[viper37]

The Top Movies According to Times Readers


Good choices in there.

[Syt]

I couldn't get past the first 20 minutes of the first episode of season 1.

I think Anthony Bourdain was a cool dude, but this veneration of food and the chef culture is so cringe. It feels like a show for white hipsters.

I gave up I think near the end of s2 when the realisation hit me that they were hiding a pretty weak and standard story with constant shouting and stress.

There's not much story, true. I see it more as character studies. Throw a bunch of people with unresolved emotional baggage into a a situation that's essentially an emotional pressure cooker. It (mostly) rings "true" to me (though some characters seem a bit too "literary" when they talk through their problems/emotions - it feels more like theater than TV or movie).