What was the last TV show you watched?

[MisterCairo]

Away on temporary duty, my tradition is to bring either Sharpe or Hornblower among disks to watch in quarters. Have now seen the first six Sharpes, and still can picture Paul McGann doing it, had he not broken a leg early in filming playing football (soccer).

 

[MisterCairo]

Series finale of Supernatural.

I am so mad right now I could spit.

No, I did NOT like it, and I think it did a great disservice to the characters and the show.

Rant over. LOL.

I decided years ago I would not care how it ended, as I know they will please no one. We have not seen any of the final episodes, and are waiting for the ultimate blu-ray set at some point. We have heard some spoilers, but may just not watch the finale!

 

[MisterCairo]

C'mon! Don't be shy, tell us how you REALLY feel! Never watched one second of this show... but I see that you did. Did the ending suck as much as GoT or "Lost"?

Worf

I may have three series I loved but which ended poorly (possibly for SNTL as we have not seen the last episodes)!

 

[Worf]

"Masters of Horror" - To my surprise/chagrin I found out that Hammer Films produced a weekly horror anthology series back in the late 70's? Some of them are "okay", some a bit chilling, others absolutely retched. However since it was on Grenada TV back then there's a bit of foul language and nudity absolutely verboten here at the time.

Worf

 

[belfastboy]

"Barbarians"....so/so. Really a low rent Vikings or Utred. Not well acted, or written and the production values are just okay. Will finish it tonight and put it to bed. Season 2 is planned but I shan't wait up for it.

 

[MisterCairo]

Sharpe's Regiment. Last night of temp duty away from home, and some martial arts on display.

 

[MisterCairo]

Yawned my way through the latest episode of "The Mandalorian". Sigh... why do I still watch this drivel!

Worf

As Nancy used to say "Just say no".

 

[Edward]

I may have three series I loved but which ended poorly (possibly for SNTL as we have not seen the last episodes)!

Did the ending ruin any of them for you? I, for my sins, always enjoyed How I met your mother, but after how diabolically awful the ending was (just awful - one of those tings where you know the writers thought it was the best thing ever because nobody would see it coming..... only to discover that nobody saw it coming because it was stupid excreta. Can never watch the show again now. A rough equivalent to Han shooting first, though without the rubbish prequels and one or two ropey spin-offs.

"Masters of Horror" - To my surprise/chagrin I found out that Hammer Films produced a weekly horror anthology series back in the late 70's? Some of them are "okay", some a bit chilling, others absolutely retched. However since it was on Grenada TV back then there's a bit of foul language and nudity absolutely verboten here at the time.

Worf

I've seen those. Bit like Tales from the Darkside, Twilight Zone or even Tales of the Unexpected: not all of them fully hold up, but fun enough overall. Notable for an appearance of Patricia "Magenta" Quinn in the episode Witching Time.

 

[MisterCairo]

Did the ending ruin any of them for you? I, for my sins, always enjoyed How I met your mother, but after how diabolically awful the ending was (just awful - one of those tings where you know the writers thought it was the best thing ever because nobody would see it coming..... only to discover that nobody saw it coming because it was stupid excreta. Can never watch the show again now. A rough equivalent to Han shooting first, though without the rubbish prequels and one or two ropey spin-offs.



I've seen those. Bit like Tales from the Darkside, Twilight Zone or even Tales of the Unexpected: not all of them fully hold up, but fun enough overall. Notable for an appearance of Patricia "Magenta" Quinn in the episode Witching Time.

Neither of the two are ruined for me (Lost and GoT). The final episode of GoT was by far the worst, but I am still getting the complete ultimate blu-ray set.

Waiting to see the last SPNL, but we will do so getting the ultimate collection and continuing to catch our daughters up, having seen up-to season seven with them.

It would mean watching the last half dozen or so episodes with them in real time, the first and last time we will be able to do so.

So many controversies about endings, I try not to care, as so many will hate it. Think MASH, Seinfeld, Sopranos, Lost, GoT, HIMYM, etc., etc., etc.

 

[belfastboy]

Watched on Netflix..."Down from the Mountain" . It is a movie of the concert featuring all the musicians that did the music for the movie..."Brother, where Art Thou". They sang all the music from the movie. It was brilliant but then I have a weakness for mountain music and Emylou Harris

 

[Zombie_61]

Watched on Netflix..."Down from the Mountain" . It is a movie of the concert featuring all the musicians that did the music for the movie..."Brother, where Art Thou". They sang all the music from the movie. It was brilliant but then I have a weakness for mountain music and Emylou Harris

I'll have to look for that. I bought the soundtrack CD to O Brother, Where Art Thou? two or three weeks before I saw the movie based solely on what I heard in the trailers.

 

[Edward]

So many controversies about endings, I try not to care, as so many will hate it. Think MASH, Seinfeld, Sopranos, Lost, GoT, HIMYM, etc., etc., etc.

It must be hard to wind up a much-loved series, especially where it's a saga that has to lead to a definitive narrative point. I still think HIMYM made a big mistake carrying on beyond the obvious point of "...and that, kids, is how I met your mother" - especially given the Other relationship was so obviously a non-goer by series 2! But hey.... I think that's the only one where I could never enjoy the show again because of it. I'd have been gutted if Life on Mars ended the way the US version did, but fortunately not!

GoT is a funny one, because of course they'd run out of books by that point. I used to think it'd be interesting to see what Martin does for the book ending - and if it was affected by the fallout from the TV one, but now it seems unlikely he's ever going to bother finishing the series, which I guess is one way to avoid a bad ending!

Watched on Netflix..."Down from the Mountain" . It is a movie of the concert featuring all the musicians that did the music for the movie..."Brother, where Art Thou". They sang all the music from the movie. It was brilliant but then I have a weakness for mountain music and Emylou Harris

That I must heck out for Christmas. The music was such a strong part of that film that it was almost a character all its own.

 

[belfastboy]

It must be hard to wind up a much-loved series, especially where it's a saga that has to lead to a definitive narrative point. I still think HIMYM made a big mistake carrying on beyond the obvious point of "...and that, kids, is how I met your mother" - especially given the Other relationship was so obviously a non-goer by series 2! But hey.... I think that's the only one where I could never enjoy the show again because of it. I'd have been gutted if Life on Mars ended the way the US version did, but fortunately not!

GoT is a funny one, because of course they'd run out of books by that point. I used to think it'd be interesting to see what Martin does for the book ending - and if it was affected by the fallout from the TV one, but now it seems unlikely he's ever going to bother finishing the series, which I guess is one way to avoid a bad ending!



That I must heck out for Christmas. The music was such a strong part of that film that it was almost a character all its own.

I did not care much for the film but loved the music. In this doc you get the music, in the flesh without having to sit through the visual crap.

 

[MisterCairo]

Watched on Netflix..."Down from the Mountain" . It is a movie of the concert featuring all the musicians that did the music for the movie..."Brother, where Art Thou". They sang all the music from the movie. It was brilliant but then I have a weakness for mountain music and Emylou Harris

Huge fan of the film and soundtrack, will have to look this up.

 

[Harp]

Sharpe's Regiment...

'

I seldom to never watch television but dimly recall an early 19th Century British romp about what
is called in the US Army-a mustang-enlisted man commissioned on the field. Sharpe was as I recall
promoted by Wellington? That looked good. An officer with rough hewn edges.

 

[MisterCairo]

'

I seldom to never watch television but dimly recall an early 19th Century British romp about what
is called in the US Army-a mustang-enlisted man commissioned on the field. Sharpe was as I recall
promoted by Wellington? That looked good. An officer with rough hewn edges.

Bernard Cornwell, English author, married an American woman and moved to the States. He did not have a work visa, so he wrote a book. Sharpe's Tiger was published in 1979, and there are now 24 and counting.

The TV movies began in 1993, originally starring Paul McCann as Sharpe, who is eventually commissioned in the field from Sgt to Lt (LEF-tenent if you please!) by General Sir Arthur Wellesley ( he is not yet Lord Wellington at that point).

McCann (if known at all in North America is the "I" in Withnail & I) broke his leg playing soccer while filming, and he was replaced (after receiving a huge payout in what was one of the most expensive insurance claims in TV history) by Sean Bean, making him a star.

I recommend the books and shows if you like military history and good old fashioned action. The budget necessarily limits the effects, and some ridicule the battle scenes, but look past that.

"RIFLES, TO ME!!!"

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

The Spanish Princess. Starz. From the free week. I thought I'd give the Game of Thrones actress and Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith, Downton Abbey) a go. I understand low budgets, but it was really lazy. A battle with maybe six people per side, and then a child on a horse with lavender canvas sneakers with bright white bottoms and with something like a plastic Playschool logo on the side. Right in the middle of the screen. I don't like to look for things like this, but if you don't bother trying to hide them, even in post-production, the viewer has no choice but to acknowledge them. Gratuitous nudity, and I could be mistaken, but I think the episodes I watched were by female directors. I go into these monarchy period pieces with a huge appetite and quickly realize everyone was so awful that I can't even look at the plate.

 

[Edward]

The Spanish Princess. Starz. From the free week. I thought I'd give the Game of Thrones actress and Laura Carmichael (Lady Edith, Downton Abbey) a go. I understand low budgets, but it was really lazy. A battle with maybe six people per side, and then a child on a horse with lavender canvas sneakers with bright white bottoms and with something like a plastic Playschool logo on the side. Right in the middle of the screen. I don't like to look for things like this, but if you don't bother trying to hide them, even in post-production, the viewer has no choice but to acknowledge them. Gratuitous nudity, and I could be mistaken, but I think the episodes I watched were by female directors. I go into these monarchy period pieces with a huge appetite and quickly realize everyone was so awful that I can't even look at the plate.

Maybe that's the purpose of such things.... I remember reading somewhere that the readers of "Monarchy" magazine a few years ago vote Henry VIII "Britain's favourite historical monarch" and pondering whether they'd have felt so well disposed towards him had they lived during his rule!

 

[Doctor Strange]

The new FX/BBC miniseries adaptation of Black Narcissus with Gemma Arterton and Alessandro Nivola. Since Powell & Pressburger's 1947 masterpiece is one of my favorite films, I was curious to check it out.

It's good, though it doesn't do much with its additional length. Most of the narrative beats and much of the dialog is the same. This version did location filming in Nepal... but the sense of power of place is actually less effective than the studio sets and matte paintings from 1947, not to mention Jack Cardiff's awesome cinematography. Of course, it does better with the casting of the Asians - no Jean Simmons in brownface this time.

It adds The Haunting-like plot thread of crazy Sister Ruth seeing the ghost of the Young General's mother, who committed suicide jumping from the bell tower years earlier, and being drawn to ultimately do the same. She decides to jump in the final tussle there with Sister Clodagh, not accidentally fall to a Disney Villain Death.

(See Disney Villain Death - TV Tropes )

Arterton does okay, but she's no Deborah Kerr. However, the new take on Mr. Dean from Nivola is an improvement on the eccentric (to put it mildly) approach of David Farrar in 1947. The actress playing crazy Sister Ruth is alright, but she just doesn't have Kathleen Byron's whacked-out sense of menace. The late Diana Rigg appears as the Mother Superior in the opening scene, her penultimate role. Jim Broadbent shows up as a priest not in the earlier film, and he's always welcome... but the character doesn't do much.

Overall, it's not bad, but it's slow and moody, and nowhere near as striking as the 1947 film. If you haven't seen either adaptation, the old film is still the one to see first.

 

[Ernest P Shackleton]

The new FX/BBC miniseries adaptation of Black Narcissus with Gemma Arterton and Alessandro Nivola. Since Powell & Pressburger's 1947 masterpiece is one of my favorite films, I was curious to check it out.

I watched this in two sittings. I'm not familiar with the original. I'm not sorry I invested the time, but it didn't resonate with me beyond, either. A time waster. As everything dries up in the next week or so, I'll wish I had more of something, like this, to watch. I really don't like this FX/Hulu deal. I don't have Hulu, and FX makes a decent product.