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Movies and TV shows (general recommendation thread)


Liberty

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I haven't watched it yet, but Marc Andreessen recommended the TV series 'Halt and Catch Fire' as a good look into the startup/hyper-growth business world.

 

It's a period piece based on a fictionalized company that represents Compaq computers. It's available on Netflix here in Canada. I've got good feedback about it from those who've seen it and it has good ratings on IMDB, so it's on my list to check out:

 

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543312/

 

I actually just got through Halt and Catch Fire after your recommendation. Me getting through a TV series is a feat in and of itself. Overall I liked this show. Seasons 1 and 3 were great. Season 1 in particular was amazing. Season 2 was terrible IMO. Basically a frat house with daytime drama and relationship bs. Season 4 kinda sucked as well IMO. After a while, you also kind of just roll your eyes at how the story continues to push ahead. First these guys stole the IBM product, and would've/could've/should've been the ones to create the Mac. Then, they basically developed Ebay. Next they invent Google. Like I wasn't around that environment and dont know what it was like in that space; maybe everyone in SV was really all on the cusp of creating the same things...but I dont buy it. Keep it grounded in reality. You dont need to have Joe McMillan stare off into the distance, and dramatically deliver a "what if...we took.......(insert major tech them that emerged half a decade later)" in EVERY SEASON.

 

Glad you (partially) enjoyed it. I still haven't finished season 1, but so far I like it. Got side-tracked with other things (Barry, Succession, Killing Eve -- all enjoyable so far).

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A recent Netflix docu-series is "Flint Town" which covers some of the themes of my favorite show of all time, HBO's "The Wire".  Flint Town focuses on law enforcement/politics/poverty in Flint, Michigan.

 

Another documentary also on Netflix is "American Factory" which is about a Chinese glass company opening a factory in Dayton, Ohio.  You get to see how Chinese management/workers mix with American workers.

 

I agree - Flint Town was awesome.  Learned a ton and super interesting.

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I haven't watched it yet, but Marc Andreessen recommended the TV series 'Halt and Catch Fire' as a good look into the startup/hyper-growth business world.

 

It's a period piece based on a fictionalized company that represents Compaq computers. It's available on Netflix here in Canada. I've got good feedback about it from those who've seen it and it has good ratings on IMDB, so it's on my list to check out:

 

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543312/

 

I actually just got through Halt and Catch Fire after your recommendation. Me getting through a TV series is a feat in and of itself. Overall I liked this show. Seasons 1 and 3 were great. Season 1 in particular was amazing. Season 2 was terrible IMO. Basically a frat house with daytime drama and relationship bs. Season 4 kinda sucked as well IMO. After a while, you also kind of just roll your eyes at how the story continues to push ahead. First these guys stole the IBM product, and would've/could've/should've been the ones to create the Mac. Then, they basically developed Ebay. Next they invent Google. Like I wasn't around that environment and dont know what it was like in that space; maybe everyone in SV was really all on the cusp of creating the same things...but I dont buy it. Keep it grounded in reality. You dont need to have Joe McMillan stare off into the distance, and dramatically deliver a "what if...we took.......(insert major tech them that emerged half a decade later)" in EVERY SEASON.

 

Glad you (partially) enjoyed it. I still haven't finished season 1, but so far I like it. Got side-tracked with other things (Barry, Succession, Killing Eve -- all enjoyable so far).

 

Yea my critique reading what I wrote sounds harsher than it is meant to be. I did enjoy this series quite a bit. I thought season one was terrific. It really, and genuinely, did a good job of portraying the corporate roller coaster, the trials and tribulations of people trying to make it, then need to be fearless and relentless in your pursuit and even the necessity to operate in some grey areas. The small fish trying to make it in a big pond. It also really showed how far IBM has fallen but also how people during that era saw the writing on the wall with them before everyone else did. Similar to what people in the 80's thought of GM.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just watching “The Crown” on Netflix and it keeps getting better through the seasons. I am in the middle of season 3 and it is exceptional well made TV.

 

Is it soapy with exaggerated overacting?

 

I've recently watched, again, Ken Burns' The Civil War. Fantastic, as always.

 

The Expansion season 4 and The Witcher are coming soon, looking forward to both.

 

The Crown's first two seasons were quite good, the third was not nearly as good so didn't finish it.

 

The Witcher turned out to be a big disappointing meh. Shame.

 

The Expanse's first episode was also a disappointment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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I gave up on Killing Eve on episode 4 of season 2. Season one was really good, the first couple of S2 showed some promise, but I think writing took a dive... Makes sense I guess since P.W.B. wasn't involved with S2.

 

Saw the first two episodes of The Crown and am liking it so far. Quality production all around (acting, photography, direction, costumes, locations, etc).

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Just watching “The Crown” on Netflix and it keeps getting better through the seasons. I am in the middle of season 3 and it is exceptional well made TV.

 

Is it soapy with exaggerated overacting?

 

I've recently watched, again, Ken Burns' The Civil War. Fantastic, as always.

 

The Expansion season 4 and The Witcher are coming soon, looking forward to both.

 

I don’t think “The Crown” has any overacting, I found the acting exquisite. It’s a bit like Downton Abbey in a way, except all the characters and events are real.

 

The season 1 was slow at times and I almost thought I would skip and look for something else, but Season 2 and especially Season 3 got better and better.

 

 

Speaking of the UK, I just finished watching all 3 seasons of "Harlots" on Hulu.  Good show.

 

If you like UK stuff I would highly recommend "Endeavor" and "Inspector Lewis." Excellent acting, great character development. Endeavor tends to have a little bit too complicated plots, but the best characters and acting.

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Just watching “The Crown” on Netflix and it keeps getting better through the seasons. I am in the middle of season 3 and it is exceptional well made TV.

 

Is it soapy with exaggerated overacting?

 

I've recently watched, again, Ken Burns' The Civil War. Fantastic, as always.

 

The Expansion season 4 and The Witcher are coming soon, looking forward to both.

 

I don’t think “The Crown” has any overacting, I found the acting exquisite. It’s a bit like Downton Abbey in a way, except all the characters and events are real.

 

The season 1 was slow at times and I almost thought I would skip and look for something else, but Season 2 and especially Season 3 got better and better.

 

 

Speaking of the UK, I just finished watching all 3 seasons of "Harlots" on Hulu.  Good show.

 

If you like UK stuff I would highly recommend "Endeavor" and "Inspector Lewis." Excellent acting, great character development. Endeavor tends to have a little bit too complicated plots, but the best characters and acting.

 

Fleabag is great too, on Amazon Prime Video.

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Just watching “The Crown” on Netflix and it keeps getting better through the seasons. I am in the middle of season 3 and it is exceptional well made TV.

 

Is it soapy with exaggerated overacting?

 

I've recently watched, again, Ken Burns' The Civil War. Fantastic, as always.

 

The Expansion season 4 and The Witcher are coming soon, looking forward to both.

 

I don’t think “The Crown” has any overacting, I found the acting exquisite. It’s a bit like Downton Abbey in a way, except all the characters and events are real.

 

The season 1 was slow at times and I almost thought I would skip and look for something else, but Season 2 and especially Season 3 got better and better.

 

 

Speaking of the UK, I just finished watching all 3 seasons of "Harlots" on Hulu.  Good show.

 

If you like UK stuff I would highly recommend "Endeavor" and "Inspector Lewis." Excellent acting, great character development. Endeavor tends to have a little bit too complicated plots, but the best characters and acting.

 

Fleabag is great too, on Amazon Prime Video.

 

Fleabag is friggin' hilarious.

Not at all what I expected.

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I recently found Poldark on Amazon Prime and have been enjoying it. One of the main plot lines is the development of a copper mine in the early 1800s. Even then mining was a brutally capital intensive venture which sets the stage for many of the show's subplots.

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Just finished the first season of Hajime No Ippo, which is a Japanese manga/anime about amateur boxing. Not the deepest stuff ever but if you are into combat sports it's great for the gym. You can find the first season on youtube which makes it convenient to watch.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I signed up for the Disney+ free trial this weekend to start watching The Mandalorian.  I watched 6 episodes so far and I'm really enjoying it.  I'm not sure that I'll keep Disney+ after my free trial period, but I highly recommend signing up to watch that one show.

 

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I'm almost done with season 1 of 'The Crown' (Netflix). I'm enjoying it more than I expected, especially since I have no pre-existing interest in the British monarchy.

 

The production values on that show are basically as high as anything I've seen. The writing and acting are very good. Some episodes are better than others, but none have been bad, IMO. I quite enjoyed the plotline about Churchill's portrait, those who have seen it know what I mean.

 

Haven't seen other seasons yet, don't know how good they are. I know that as time moves forward they change actors. Hopefully they're as good as the first batch.

 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4786824/

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Lots of good stuff streaming nowadays, but I'm currently very into a show that was recommended to me by a friend who used to work at NASA:  The Expanse. 

 

(snap shot:  The Earth is run by the U.N., Mars is independent and Militarized and their is was brewing over control of the settlements in the outer asteroid belt). It's very dark, like Battlestar Galactica (also a favorite).

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  • 2 weeks later...

Just finished "Unauthorized Living"  it is a Netflix original based in Spain.  You can set the audio to English, so you don't need to turn on subtitles.  It was excellent.  The best show I've seen lately.

 

Just finished it. I watched it because of your post and I totally agree with you! Great recommendation.

 

There is now a season 2 of Unauthorized Living on Netflix.  I just finished it, both seasons are excellent.

 

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I just wrapped up The Expanse. Really enjoyed it - definitely had some Battlestar Gllactica vibes

 

Season 1 was great, definitely made me think this was the successor to BSG. But I thought the tone and writing changed after that and the quality dropped, which is too bad. Haven't seen the latest season yet.

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