Movies and TV shows (general recommendation thread)

[Liberty]

Been going through the Miyazaki movies for the first time with my family. So far it's all been big hits, awesome stuff. In order:

 

Ponyo (2008), My Neighbor Totoro (1988), Kiki's Delivery Service (1989) and The Cat Returns (2003?).

 

Highly recommended, especially if you have young kids.

 

This page gives an idea of what movies are good for what age range:

 

https://offspring.lifehacker.com/how-to-introduce-your-kid-to-studio-ghibli-1825737607

[LC]

Ghibli is great, keep going!

 

Would recommend Spirited Away, Castle in the sky, Nausicaa, Howl's moving castle.

 

And when a little older, Princess Mononoke and Grave of the fireflies.

 

Masterpieces, all of them! (although Totoro is my personal favorite - true magic)

[rkbabang]

Someone I know recently recommended a series to me called "Yellowstone".  The problem is I can't find it for free in any of my streaming services.  The person who recommended it said that it is worth paying for.  Anyone seen it?  Is it worth it?

[Liberty]

Ghibli is great, keep going!

 

Would recommend Spirited Away, Castle in the sky, Nausicaa, Howl's moving castle.

 

And when a little older, Princess Mononoke and Grave of the fireflies.

 

Masterpieces, all of them! (although Totoro is my personal favorite - true magic)

 

Yeah, amazing stuff.

 

Last night wife and I watched episode 1 of this NHK documentary. Followed Miyazaki during the early days of the making of Ponyo. Really great to see his creative process, and to realize how much of it is coming straight out of his head and drawings:

 

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/ondemand/program/video/10yearshayaomiyazaki/?type=tvEpisode&

[Spekulatius]

Recently re-watched “Casino Royale” , Daniel Craig’s first Bond movie and it has aged very well. It might be the best Bond from the whole series.

 

Now, I am watching “Chef’s Table - BBQ” in Netflix. That’s a pretty well made series for those of us who like BBQ.

[DooDiligence]

A great Nova series on CRISPR.

 

www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/how-does-crispr-work/

 

www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/gene-editing-reality-check/

[writser]

Recently re-watched “Casino Royale” , Daniel Craig’s first Bond movie and it has aged very well. It might be the best Bond from the whole series.

 

It’s very good, but no way it beats Goldfinger! That one has the best theme song, best Oddjob, best gadgets, best car, best Bond actor and the most memorable quotes. My main issue with Casino Royale is that if you have played any poker those scenes are just a bit too cringeworthy.

 

I’m currently watching “El Candidato” on Amazon. Was recommended by Hugh Laurie somewhere. It’s very good actually. Think “Narcos” or “Sicario” (which I also think is a great gritty movie, underrated).

 

After that, “The boys” season 2. Bit afraid I will be disappointed, because season 1 was so good.

[Gregmal]

Netflix vs The World was pretty good.

[Spekulatius]

Ok, October is German month in Netflix - Barbaren and Oktoberfest:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9184986/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10244612/

[Liberty]

Currently re-watching Mad Men, which is great.

 

Hearing good things about the mini-series The Queen's Gambit, but haven't seen it yet.

[wabuffo]

<b>Hearing good things about the mini-series The Queen's Gambit, but haven't seen it yet.</b>

 

Two episodes in.  It’s outstanding so far.

 

wabuffo

[Gregmal]

Agree on Queens Gambit. Very good.

 

 

[wabuffo]

Agree on Queens Gambit. Very good.

 

The series used a renowned chess master to create realistic games for all of the chess play on the show.

https://www.indiewire.com/2020/10/queens-gambit-netflix-chess-expert-bruce-pandolfini-1234594484/

 

Websites already appearing giving color commentary that analyze the chess play and provide explainers for all the chess scenes - episode by episode.

https://www.chessbase.in/news/The-Queens-Gambit-Episode-1-review

 

wabuffo

[DooDiligence]

"Oscar Peterson: Keeping the Groove Alive" on Amazon Prime.

 

Great guy. I never knew he was Canadian.

[Parsad]

"Oscar Peterson: Keeping the Groove Alive" on Amazon Prime.

 

Great guy. I never knew he was Canadian.

 

One of the greats!  Unfortunately passed away over a decade ago...but his music is still here.

 

Suffered enormously with racism during his life...including even near the end in this day and age!  People can be so ignorant and stupid.

 

But truly an amazing artist!  Cheers!

[Liberty]

"Oscar Peterson: Keeping the Groove Alive" on Amazon Prime.

 

Great guy. I never knew he was Canadian.

 

Oh, I gotta see that. Adding it to the list.

 

 

Watched the 1st ep of 'The Queen's Gambit' (2020, Netflix). So much praise for it lately, expectations were a bit high. But so far it's really strong, lots of good moments, I like the actors. Not quite sure where it's going yet, I hope they side-step the usual orphanage tropes.

 

[Xerxes]

Maybe it is a name that folks here are familiar.

"Bosch" on Prime. From producers of "The Wire" and some of the same actors.

 

Great detective show. It was good enough in stopping me from watching The Boyz, which itself was great.

 

[Spekulatius]

Bosch is Great. Many seasons to watch.

 

One I am currently enjoying mainly for the style is “The Liberator”.

Its a hybrid/ graphic novel visual style and tells the story of a WW2 unit:

 

Amazon has a series in a somewhat similar style “Undone” which I also like a lot (that one has great storytelling too).

[Xerxes]

Thanks i ll check out. I spend my 20s reading all kind of history books. A lot on WWII and then spend my 30s catching the investment 'bug'. Now in my very early 40s, i am thinking i had those in reverse. I could have capital working for me a decade sooner and reading my history books in my 30s instead. It is not like the historical event changed.

 

I finished Bosch's last season earlier today, so went to watch Masayoshi Son's 3rd Quarter results.

its like a movie with multiple cliffhangers.

[Parsad]

Dark Waters was pretty good...if you like corporate intrigue, the law, etc.  Mark Ruffalo is terrific as a lawyer who takes on a corporate giant...very easy to give away what this is about if I say anything. 

 

Also for my Canadian compatriots, CBC's War of the Worlds is a terrific take on the old story.  Cheers!

[Spekulatius]

Yeah, Liberator is worth checking out. i like the Visual Style, but I do think that the storytelling falls a bit flat.

 

If you do want to watch a really good WW2 swords, try “Generation war” on Netflix:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generation_War

 

 

For something lighthearted and seasonal (Xmas), “Dash and Lilly” is well scripted and entertaining.

[Xerxes]

Thanks

The trailer for Dark Waters looks very interesting. I just hope the trailer didn't give away the story.:-)

 

 

Cheers folks,

we are going to need a lot of entrainment this holiday season.

[Gregmal]

Finished Queens Gambit and it was excellent. Especially so if you have ever taken an interest in chess.

 

Also recently watched The Company Men. Nothing great but good actors and a worthwhile watch if nothing else to remind oneself of where things were not too long ago and where they can someday be. Be grateful for what you have and dont squander it...side story in the movie was the number of people making good money who were living paycheck to paycheck.

[cubsfan]

^ I'll second the Queens Gambit!

[Spekulatius]

Hulu has a BF deal for it’s ad supported version for $1.99 for one year. I subscribed to it.

 

Watching the seasonal “Free Birds” animation and it’s actually pretty good.

 

I am slo rewatching the Fargo series that originally aired on FX. I watched Episode 1 and it’s a classic.