TV/Movies Megathread

[Barrister]

I mean, I like the Rocky movies, but I still have no interest in watching boxing matches.

I'm trying to think ... I feel there was a documentary that really got me interested in a subject I previously had zero interest in, but I forget what it was ... 

So I've fallen into a deep rabbit hole on Youtube - watching sailing videos.  There's a bunch of different channels, all following the same basic model.  Either a single guy, or a couple or a family, live on a sailboat.  They send up regular updates on their lives and travels.  Many of the videos are surprisingly well put together - basically their full-time job is making youtube videos, which can be enough for a fairly decent income.

Anyways, it has gotten me interested to the point where I've been googling sailing lessons, although I don't think I'll take that particular plunge.

Beebs, come visit Rochester. I bought a sailboat last summer.

I know.     I wondered if I'd get a response from you.

There's a tiny problem with crossing the border these days though...

How much do you use and/or enjoy your sailboat?

[Berkut]

I mean, I like the Rocky movies, but I still have no interest in watching boxing matches.

I'm trying to think ... I feel there was a documentary that really got me interested in a subject I previously had zero interest in, but I forget what it was ... 

So I've fallen into a deep rabbit hole on Youtube - watching sailing videos.  There's a bunch of different channels, all following the same basic model.  Either a single guy, or a couple or a family, live on a sailboat.  They send up regular updates on their lives and travels.  Many of the videos are surprisingly well put together - basically their full-time job is making youtube videos, which can be enough for a fairly decent income.

Anyways, it has gotten me interested to the point where I've been googling sailing lessons, although I don't think I'll take that particular plunge.

Beebs, come visit Rochester. I bought a sailboat last summer.

I know.     I wondered if I'd get a response from you.

There's a tiny problem with crossing the border these days though...

How much do you use and/or enjoy your sailboat?

A lot last summer. My daughter turned out to love it as well, so we spent a lot of time sailing. Weather permitting, I went sailing pretty much every weekend and at least once or twice during the week.

I am actually taking tomorrow off to do some work on Wahoo while it is on the hard. Going to paint the bottom, wash it down, and buff/polish it.

[Maladict]

Our national hero, Jacques Villeneuve even beat him! 1997 was such an awesome F1 year for Quebec.

I remember the Jerez race very well, I was rooting for Villeneuve that year. Too bad about the disastrous move to BAR.

Still unsure what to make of Schumacher after all these years, such a divisive legacy. The only race I attended was Imola in 2003, his mother had died in the early morning of race day. He was there when it when it happened, flew into Italy hours later, overwhelmingly won the race and flew back home. I'm both impressed and repelled at the same time. That kind of single-mindedness is common in successful athletes, of course, but Schumacher always seemed to take it to an extreme.

[Tamas]

I never liked Schumacher, his dominance really hurt the sport but it can't be denied he was brilliant.

For me the "golden age" of F1 died with Senna, though.


EDIT: the last several years, every time I made an effort to get back into F1, it was all about who has what tyre compound and whether there's going to be an overtake during the pit stops. THRILLING. Not.

And of course seeing just how far the two McLarens is going to get ahead of everyone else. Snoozefest.

[The Brain]

I'm not a fan of the halo look.

[Maladict]

I'm not a fan of the halo look.

It's pretty ugly.
I prefer the approx. 2000-2010 look for F1 cars.

[The Larch]

And of course seeing just how far the two McLarens is going to get ahead of everyone else. Snoozefest.

The two Mercedes, you mean. 

I gave the show a try last night and ended up watching the first 3 episodes in a row. It is really well crafted, no wonder it can present F1 in a new, exciting light and bring new fans to it. I read that it has been criticized for making up some of the stuff they show (mostly made up team communications during the races), as well as over-dramatising some of the scenes for the purpose of making the show more interesting (not so much a pure documentary but rather a semi-scripted reality show), but it is indubitably a very slick show that puts F1 under a very appealing light. I wonder how difficult is it to pick up for newbies, though, as they don't really give a ton of background info on some of its parts.

[Syt]

Finished Parks and Recreation. Really loved the show. Series peak was clearly seasons 3-5 for me. Season 7 was a well deserved victory lap with plenty of call backs, characters showing up a last time etc. and giving a measure of "happily ever after" closure to all characters.

Michael Schur created P&R, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, The Good Place and executive produced those shows, plus The Office (and Master of None, Abby's and Sunnyside, which I haven't watched and of which only Master of None seems to review well).

It's easy to see some parallels in characters between his three workplace comedies (Office, P&R, B99 - esp. the last two which he created himself). You have the overweight office dolt who's the bottom of the pecking order but who has surprising qualities (Kevin, Jerry/Larry/Terry/Barry/Gary, Scully), you have the outwardly tough loner chick with the soft center (April, Rosa), the ambitious and hyper-organized overachiever (Leslie, Amy), the stoic and monosyllabic boss (Ron, Cpt. Holt), the socialites (Tom/Donna, Gina),  ... not a complaint, but still interesting to see.

The 2012 episodes in which Leslie runs for a council seat against the moronic, disinterested, incompetent son of the city's main business owner who still almost wins the election - yeah, it doesn't feel as crazy anymore. And neither did some of the politicking/political smearing which at the time may have felt over the top but which feels more like mainstream political discourse these days. 



Also watched the first episode of F is for Family. Contained more swearwords than expected, but it is co-created and voiced by Bill Burr, so ...

[Syt]

P.S. to P&R: I love the detail and continuity throughout the show, with characters re-appearing or calling back to previous episodes. Or things like Andy's shoe shine stand collecting memorabilia - newspaper articles, photos, Mouse Rat CDs ... or fake books showing up in the library, that kind of stuff. And little things like Mike Pence being on the fame wall in JJ's Diner (I like to imagine he stopped by when he was governor).

[Josquius]

Two distant strangers - interesting little groundhog day meets black lives matter film on Netflix. I didn't know there even was a best short in the Oscars. Its good. I'm curious on the ending and what's going on though. I fear they chose the social commentary over explaining the plot.

[celedhring]

Started watching Borgen. So far it looks like it's House of Cards with scandies, and a protagonist that's not laughably evil (so far, at least, I suppose a big part of the plot will revolve around her needing to ultimately get her hands dirty to achieve stuff).

[Maladict]

Borgen was awesome. But it probably won't have quite the same impact after all the copycats.
I'd still watch it over House of Cards, though.

[celedhring]

I haven't watched any of the copycats, so I should be fine.

[Sheilbh]

I liked Borgen a lot. But it was always slightly ruined by the fact she was effectively Nick Clegg/leader of the Lib Dems

Edit: Also there is also one dreadful episode each season where they decide to do foreign policy

[The Larch]

And of course seeing just how far the two McLarens is going to get ahead of everyone else. Snoozefest.

The two Mercedes, you mean. 

I gave the show a try last night and ended up watching the first 3 episodes in a row. It is really well crafted, no wonder it can present F1 in a new, exciting light and bring new fans to it. I read that it has been criticized for making up some of the stuff they show (mostly made up team communications during the races), as well as over-dramatising some of the scenes for the purpose of making the show more interesting (not so much a pure documentary but rather a semi-scripted reality show), but it is indubitably a very slick show that puts F1 under a very appealing light. I wonder how difficult is it to pick up for newbies, though, as they don't really give a ton of background info on some of its parts.

Ok, so I ended up binging the 1st season over the weekend. Most of my comments from the previous post apply, and the guys certainly have a talent for looking at narratives for their episodes. Keeping each episode focused in a couple of teams and a few drivers certainly gives the people involved much more of a time to show their personality, which is what ends up driving the show. It's a pity that they couldn't really feature the top pilots (I read that neither Mercedes nor Ferrari allowed themselves to be covered, although they did accept it for the following seasons), but giving a spotlight to F1's middle and lower-middle teams is also an interesting thing and allows you to get to know less famous personalities.

Just to see if my impressions about the drivers were correct, this is what I ended up thinking about the ones featured the most:

- Ricciardo seemd the most "Italian", in a way, and certainly fit the charming rogue stereotype the most.
- Verstappen was the one who seemed more of a jerk and even though he was the one that was hyped the most he just didn't really seem like an interesting person to get to know, he was a rather assholish automaton in the pieces shown.
- Grosjean was the one I felt for the most, seeing the psychological toll that so many crashes took on him was rather heartbreaking and you end up kinda thinking that maybe he should retire for his own good, but it was nice seeing him pick himself up by the end of the season.
- Hulkenberg, Magnussen and Ericsson all kinda blurred together as the "steady veterans" that didn't really show much personality.
- By contrast, Leclerc, Ocon and Gasly, who all kinda blurred together as well as the "promising Frenchies" did get more of their personalities and backgrounds shown, which made them more interesting.
- About the two Spanish drivers, Sainz and Alonso, as I already knew them quite well as they feature quite a lot in our media, I basically reinforced the opinion I already had, that Sainz is kind of a "determined up and coming pilot" that still needs to prove himself, and Alonso a really respected legend of the sport, despite his rather limited success.

It was also cool to see the behind the scenes look at the movers and shakers of the teams, owners, technical directors and so on, it really helped the "drama" feel of the show.

I guess I'll keep watching this, and the next one should be more interesting if Ferrari and Mercedes opened their doors to the show, as it should be really cool to see the "aristocracy" of the circuit behind closed doors.