What was the last TV show you watched?

[Doctor Strange]

Well, as I'm always telling people when showing them my film photos, "Black and white is abstract by its very nature: it doesn't make images that reflect reality anything like our vision sees it."

So in that sense, you're right that Scott's current age is less apparent AND less important - here he's a timeless noir guy. And even without having watched it yet, yeah, that's a reasonable approach for this character/story.

I watched the first episode of Mary & George, but as much of a fan as I am of Julianne Moore (and an English history geek too)... I'm not sure I'm gonna stick with it. Pretty squicky premise, whoring her son off to the king...

 

[Edward]

Well, as I'm always telling people when showing them my film photos, "Black and white is abstract by its very nature: it doesn't make images that reflect reality anything like our vision sees it."

So in that sense, you're right that Scott's current age is less apparent AND less important - here he's a timeless noir guy. And even without having watched it yet, yeah, that's a reasonable approach for this character/story.

I watched the first episode of Mary & George, but as much of a fan as I am of Julianne Moore (and an English history geek too)... I'm not sure I'm gonna stick with it. Pretty squicky premise, whoring her son off to the king...

you'll probably want to avoid Scoop on Netflix, then! Though it's actually a very good representation of the reality of the contemporary broadcast newsroom and how an event-interview like that can come about.

 

[Touchofevil]

Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen. Only three episodes in and I find it to be quite entertaining. I have yet to have seen the movie of the same name but most likely will at some point. As with Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, it has entertaining characters, snappy dialogue, plenty of action/energy, as well as humor.

 

[Worf]

"Fallout" - About 2 years ago I was casting about for a new "first person shooter" to play as I was done with "Far Cry". I read many good and bad things about the "Fallout" series of games. I played Fallout 3 several times then went on to "Fallout New Vegas", in my opinion, the BEST game of the series. It was with great trepidation that I dipped my toes into the new Amazon series.

Personally I found it "enjoyable" but limiting. In the Fallout games YOU make the choices it's a shooter AND a Role Playing Game". you decide who lives, who dies and which way the story goes. I constantly kept second guessing the characters choices and decisions. It didn't help that two of the main characters wandered this wide and dangerous world with all of the awareness of chimps fresh from the zoo. They also took 2 great liberties with the "lore" established in the game that left me burnt. I won't go all nerdy on that topic but needless to say a sizeable fraction of the fanbase are lighting torches and sharpening their pitchforks.

All in all I think the show is good. They don't hit you over the head with "fan service" and the acting is outstanding. Even if you're not familiar with the game or the world it's set in you could do much worse.

Worf

 

[Edward]

Guy Ritchie’s Netflix series The Gentlemen. Only three episodes in and I find it to be quite entertaining. I have yet to have seen the movie of the same name but most likely will at some point. As with Snatch and Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels, it has entertaining characters, snappy dialogue, plenty of action/energy, as well as humor.

His earlier work really did not appeal to me. I did however pick up on the film version of The Gentlemen hen it his my streamers, as much as anything for the cast: Charlie Hunnam is always good value. Though the star turn was Hugh Grant as exactly the sort of low rent, sleazy tabloid journo against whom he has spent the last few years railing against over intrusions into his personal life. It's a caricature performance, on a par with his campy turn as a villain in Paddington 2, and it really is wonderful. Capitvating and funny - far from the bumbling posho twit he's normally hired to play as a persona. I must check out the TV version for comparison, but the film is well worth your seeking it out.

"Fallout" - About 2 years ago I was casting about for a new "first person shooter" to play as I was done with "Far Cry". I read many good and bad things about the "Fallout" series of games. I played Fallout 3 several times then went on to "Fallout New Vegas", in my opinion, the BEST game of the series. It was with great trepidation that I dipped my toes into the new Amazon series.

Personally I found it "enjoyable" but limiting. In the Fallout games YOU make the choices it's a shooter AND a Role Playing Game". you decide who lives, who dies and which way the story goes. I constantly kept second guessing the characters choices and decisions. It didn't help that two of the main characters wandered this wide and dangerous world with all of the awareness of chimps fresh from the zoo. They also took 2 great liberties with the "lore" established in the game that left me burnt. I won't go all nerdy on that topic but needless to say a sizeable fraction of the fanbase are lighting torches and sharpening their pitchforks.

All in all I think the show is good. They don't hit you over the head with "fan service" and the acting is outstanding. Even if you're not familiar with the game or the world it's set in you could do much worse.

Worf

Interesting to read the opinion of aa gamer familiar with the source material. I enjoyed it very much, but I have no more awareness of the game than that it has a bunch of people living in a retro-futurist, post-apocalyptic America. It's interesting how you discuss the viewer experience; I think in all honesty one of the reasons I've never becmoe a gamer is because I do seek the passsive experience from my entertainment these days - I don't want to interact with it.

I do remember trying some of the early FPSs in the 90s, and ot being able to getthe hang ofthem because I couldn't figure out how to cope with controlling a character I couldn't see. Different evolution in games, I suppose.

 

[Edward]

Anyone seen the new animated version of Batman? Just dropped recently on Prime in the UK. It's beautiful. Something like the 90s 'Batman the Animated Series', but more noir. A joy.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Yeah, I've watched Batman: Caped Crusader. It's a gift from Bruce Timm, et.al. to us hardcore B:TAS fans!



It's really well done in nearly every way, though with some odd choices on the reconceptions of some characters. I like the circa-1950 setting (fedoras and tommy guns... and little b/w TVs) and year-one approach (those little finless gloves!) Voice work and writing is very good, art and action is stellar. It's a revisit/rethinking of B:TAS with a more adult approach, now that they're not under the censorship constraints of a network afternoon kids show back in the 90s.



That said... The new series can't quite match the excitement of B:TAS, which is suffused with a sense of we're-doing-this-right-for-the-first-time, even with fighting the time/budget/censorship constraints. Made by young folks just on the way up as writers/artists, B:TAS blossoms, discovering its seriousness, depth, and aritistry as it goes along. There's a palpable sense that they've managed to make something special...

The new series, made by some of the same creators - now senior veterans - isn't fighting its budget or broadcast censorship, or having to make a case for being yet another adaptation of Batman. How many Batman projects have we had since the 90s? Some have won Oscars. I recently saw a quote from some actor that, "Batman is now like King Lear or Hamlet, every actor wants a crack at it."



Caped Crusader is a revisit of B:TAS, made by older creators in a vastly different Bat-media universe than the 90s series. It's very worthwhile and enjoyable - bring on season two! - but as good as it is, it still isn't Batman: The Animated Series. It can't be. But it certainly is Son of B:TAS!

 

[belfastboy]

A bit late to the dance but just finished Season 1 of "Foyle's War". Quite like it...usual great British acting and writing.

 

[Julian Shellhammer]

A bit late to the dance but just finished Season 1 of "Foyle's War". Quite like it...usual great British acting and writing.

Foyle's War was a favorite of the Missus and me. Michael Kitchen underplays the character even as he is pulling together the clues. The pacing might seem slow, but the story-telling keeps us engaged.

 

[Edward]

I've recently been rewatching Buffy the Vampire Slayer on streaming. It's an interesting experience, as I've not seen the show at all since it was originally broadcast (1997-2002), an era which predated streaming. The upshot is that I've seen (particularly from season 4 onwards, by which time I was working and often not home in time for its broadcast slot of 6pm-7pm) a number of episodes I know I missed first time around. Binge-watching episodes close together, I'm getting a whole new appreciation for the story arcs and how well paced it was, with major plot points being set up often six, seven episodes ahead of them coming to fruition. Despite the much-publicised controversies about behind the scenes behaviour that have come to light in recent times, in terms of the show content itself it has dated very well. Particularly interesting is how little tech is portrayed in use day to day. The point I'm currently at is about the year 2000, a time when the web wasn't quite yet a daily-use thing for most people, mobile phones were much less common than they suddenly became, and landlines were still very much a norm. It's an interesting snapshot of a moment in time which has key differences to now if you look for them.

 

[Worf]

Yeah, I've watched Batman: Caped Crusader. It's a gift from Bruce Timm, et.al. to us hardcore B:TAS fans!

View attachment 632110

It's really well done in nearly every way, though with some odd choices on the reconceptions of some characters. I like the circa-1950 setting (fedoras and tommy guns... and little b/w TVs) and year-one approach (those little finless gloves!) Voice work and writing is very good, art and action is stellar. It's a revisit/rethinking of B:TAS with a more adult approach, now that they're not under the censorship constraints of a network afternoon kids show back in the 90s.

View attachment 632111

That said... The new series can't quite match the excitement of B:TAS, which is suffused with a sense of we're-doing-this-right-for-the-first-time, even with fighting the time/budget/censorship constraints. Made by young folks just on the way up as writers/artists, B:TAS blossoms, discovering its seriousness, depth, and aritistry as it goes along. There's a palpable sense that they've managed to make something special...

The new series, made by some of the same creators - now senior veterans - isn't fighting its budget or broadcast censorship, or having to make a case for being yet another adaptation of Batman. How many Batman projects have we had since the 90s? Some have won Oscars. I recently saw a quote from some actor that, "Batman is now like King Lear or Hamlet, every actor wants a crack at it."

View attachment 632112

Caped Crusader is a revisit of B:TAS, made by older creators in a vastly different Bat-media universe than the 90s series. It's very worthwhile and enjoyable - bring on season two! - but as good as it is, it still isn't Batman: The Animated Series. It can't be. But it certainly is Son of B:TAS!

Despite being a "Marvel Maniac" since the 60's B'TAS is what lead me to pay attention to ANYTHING D.C. related. Watching it as an adult, I got hooked. The one thing D.C./Warner has managed to do right is their animated films and shows (for the most part). Like you I fell in love with B'TAS and through that the Dark Knight himself. I too looked forward to this new series and loved (for the most part) its depiction of Batman and his rogues gallery.

They've taken Gotham back (or almost) its late 30's early 40's roots. This world is dark and gritty and folks, good and bad, are gunned down left right and sideways. This is both good and bad, seminal members of Batman's rogues gallery are either captured way too easily or eliminated altogether in a hail of lead. Characters who's development we watched over the last two decades in D.C. extended universe are snuffed out in seconds in this show. I find that disconcerting. The only one I'll touch on is the character of Detective Bullock. In B'TAS Bullock is a fat, donut eating slob at the beginning, who, while not explicitly "dirty", would never be considered a "good cop". Through the original series Bullock's character grows and we find out he's not only clean but, in reality, is actually a cop who wants to do the right thing. In this series he's a dirty as they come.

Over all I and Puddin' enjoyed the show. It's NOT close to having the charm and impact of the original BUT it's close enough to keep me interested.

Worf

PS It's also interesting how they take Alfred BACK to his original depiction from the comics. Here he's fat, bald and definitely NOT a retired man of action, yet.

 

[Edward]

Despite being a "Marvel Maniac" since the 60's B'TAS is what lead me to pay attention to ANYTHING D.C. related. Watching it as an adult, I got hooked. The one thing D.C./Warner has managed to do right is their animated films and shows (for the most part). Like you I fell in love with B'TAS and through that the Dark Knight himself. I too looked forward to this new series and loved (for the most part) its depiction of Batman and his rogues gallery.

They've taken Gotham back (or almost) its late 30's early 40's roots. This world is dark and gritty and folks, good and bad, are gunned down left right and sideways. This is both good and bad, seminal members of Batman's rogues gallery are either captured way too easily or eliminated altogether in a hail of lead. Characters who's development we watched over the last two decades in D.C. extended universe are snuffed out in seconds in this show. I find that disconcerting. The only one I'll touch on is the character of Detective Bullock. In B'TAS Bullock is a fat, donut eating slob at the beginning, who, while not explicitly "dirty", would never be considered a "good cop". Through the original series Bullock's character grows and we find out he's not only clean but, in reality, is actually a cop who wants to do the right thing. In this series he's a dirty as they come.

Over all I and Puddin' enjoyed the show. It's NOT close to having the charm and impact of the original BUT it's close enough to keep me interested.

Worf

PS It's also interesting how they take Alfred BACK to his original depiction from the comics. Here he's fat, bald and definitely NOT a retired man of action, yet.

While its often frustrated me over the years that DC have tended to put all their screen effort into yet another version of Batman or Superman, the bonus of having all these different versions is that we do get to see a whole heap of different takes on them, which can be fun. I think my favourite Alfred to date have been Sean Pertwee in Gotham, and Jack Bannon in Pennyworth. It's gutting the latter was cancelled before we could see the logical end to his story arc, linking him to the Alfred we know as a butler to the Waynes. (I had a conspiracy theory that Alfie's as yet unborn son when the show was cancelled would be secretly adopted by the Waynes, and raised as their son Bruce. There was clearly intended to be some sort of tragedy involved, given the Waynes had a young daughter in that show.... unless they intended to subvert the establish lore and have a Batwoman first. Which I'd have been fine with, tbh, though it would have taken the show in a different direction from being a prequel of sorts. Certainly, it was a very different world from our own - an England where the Queen appeared to retain absolute power, at least until overthrown, it appeared there'd been a truce with Nazi Germany and no D-Day, and all sorts of fascism going on in England. In an early episode we saw gibbets and televised public executions. That's what disappoints me most of all, about the cancellation: I wanted to see more of that alternative history. Hopefully DC will eventually oblige with another set of characters and their story in that era. Could be an interesting environment to drop Wonderwoman into.

 

[Worf]

I too enjoyed "Pennyworth" a great deal. It was a marvelous alternate universe and, like you, I couldn't wait to find out the history behind that "swinging 60's" England. It was fascinating. DC and Marvel to a certain extent, have gone bonkers with this "Multiverse" or "Multiearth" business. Can't get a straight story out of any of em. Drives me nutty. Still I thought "Pennyworth's" cancellation was a crime! Right up there with HBO's "Carnivale", "Deadwood" and "Rome". Sigh... what could'a been....

Worf

 

[Edward]

I too enjoyed "Pennyworth" a great deal. It was a marvelous alternate universe and, like you, I couldn't wait to find out the history behind that "swinging 60's" England. It was fascinating. DC and Marvel to a certain extent, have gone bonkers with this "Multiverse" or "Multiearth" business. Can't get a straight story out of any of em. Drives me nutty. Still I thought "Pennyworth's" cancellation was a crime! Right up there with HBO's "Carnivale", "Deadwood" and "Rome". Sigh... what could'a been....

Worf

Yes. Better the cancellation came when it did at least at the end of an arc than at the end of either prior season, but it would have been a lot of fun to see where that story went next - both in a post-apocalyptic 1960s London, and perhaps to Europe and the US.

 

[Worf]

"Penguin" - This series on HBO picks up right after the last live action film with Colin Farrell again playing a rather divergent take on the the titular villain. However this Penguin's story reads and feels more like "The Wire" than anything to do with "Batman". No monocle, no top hat, not even an elongated snozolla. Just a tired, bedraggled mid level hood, with a domineering Mom, a club foot and a dream. I am intrigued by this show and have enjoyed both episodes. It'll be interesting to see where it leads as it's SUPPOSED to lead right into the second film of this Batman saga. You could do worse.

Worf

 

[Edward]

"Penguin" - This series on HBO picks up right after the last live action film with Colin Farrell again playing a rather divergent take on the the titular villain. However this Penguin's story reads and feels more like "The Wire" than anything to do with "Batman". No monocle, no top hat, not even an elongated snozolla. Just a tired, bedraggled mid level hood, with a domineering Mom, a club foot and a dream. I am intrigued by this show and have enjoyed both episodes. It'll be interesting to see where it leads as it's SUPPOSED to lead right into the second film of this Batman saga. You could do worse.

Worf

I'm keen to give that one a go. I don't currently have access to where it's playing in the UK, but when it filters down to my streamers I'll be keen to see it. I was a bit taken aback by Farrell's portrayal of Penguin at first in The Batman, it being so different to Robert Lord Taylor in Gotham. Watching that film a couple of times, though, I think what Farrell did was really interesting. Less of an entirely new character in the way the Gotham version kinda was, more a Nolan "real world" kind of take on the source material. I'd like to see more of that. Actually, I'd like to see more of the world of The Batman full stop. It's take on the Riddler was so different than we've seen before, gloriously sinister. A TV streamer version of that with a lot more of the old and less overdone villains would be great - though their version of the Joker, hinted at at the end of that film, could also be marvellous.

 

[Worf]

I'm keen to give that one a go. I don't currently have access to where it's playing in the UK, but when it filters down to my streamers I'll be keen to see it. I was a bit taken aback by Farrell's portrayal of Penguin at first in The Batman, it being so different to Robert Lord Taylor in Gotham. Watching that film a couple of times, though, I think what Farrell did was really interesting. Less of an entirely new character in the way the Gotham version kinda was, more a Nolan "real world" kind of take on the source material. I'd like to see more of that. Actually, I'd like to see more of the world of The Batman full stop. It's take on the Riddler was so different than we've seen before, gloriously sinister. A TV streamer version of that with a lot more of the old and less overdone villains would be great - though their version of the Joker, hinted at at the end of that film, could also be marvellous.

Yes.... In my eyes The Riddler was a second Banana in Batman's Rogues Gallery. Quirky and funny but not really dangerous. A thief and trickster rather than a psychopathic murderer like the Joker. I felt the same way about the Penguin as well. Interesting and funny yes... dangerous, not really. In the opening minutes of this series though you learn that the Penguin is indeed a criminal, one ready, willing and, if put to it, able to bust a cap in someone at a moments notice. This singular action is what starts off the entire chain of events depicted thus far in the series. I personally hope you get access to it soon as I value your opinion, along with others (paging Doctor Strange) on these matters.

Worf

 

[Doctor Strange]

I didn't expect to, but I'm enjoying it... But it's just your basic organized crime story. Why set it in Gotham if we're never even gonna see Commissioner Gordon, much less Batman?

Yeah, okay, The Batman introduced this mid-level hood version of the Penguin, so it's in that continuity. I didn't hate The Batman, but I didn't love it either, and mainly I don't think we needed a newer, even darker Batman AGAIN just yet. It made so little impression on me that I didn't even remember the bombs/flooding that showed up in this show's flashback, which confused me.

I mean, it's a classy production, well made and well acted. Colin Farrell is (as usual) great, if totally unrecognizable. Cristin Miloiti is killing. I'm always thrilled to see Clancy Brown as a villain... But the show's Bat-universe connection is so tenuous that I'd rather they'd just done it as a straightforward mob story with new character names.

 

[Doctor Strange]

Addendum:

Having now watched the entire miniseries, I have to admit that The Penguin really won me over. It's consistently surprising and very well done.

Great acting all around starting with Colin Farrell... But Cristin Milioti is the top scenery-chewer with her stylized and overwrought-yet-perfect performance as Sofia Falcone/Gigante. And while its connections to The Batman remained tenuous, it does end with Oswald having developed into something closer to the familiar Penguin character (i.e., ready to show up in The Batman II)... and a shot of the Bat Signal.



And also... that the Crown Point neighborhood sequences were largely shot in rundown areas of Yonkers, NY - where I grew up - didn't hurt my appreciation either!

 

[Edward]

I'm currently experiencing the dread frustration of watching a couple of shows that are only being released on an episode per week basis, gah. They being they long-delayed latter half of season seven of Outlander (a bit of silly fun), and the sublime third and final part of the Wolf Hall series based on the late Hilary Mantel's novel trilogy. In between new episodes of those, I've been rewatching Ashes to Ashes, the sequel series to the original UK Life on Mars. It still holds up well, nearly 15 years on from its conclusion.

I'm looking out to find something new and noir, we'll have to see what Hollywood provides us with next.