Amazon Prime streaming video recommendations thread

[Orang Utan]

I think it’s designed for people who know what they’re looking for rather than casual watching

 

[kabbes]

I think it’s designed for people who know what they’re looking for rather than casual watching

I think you’re right. But why not design it for both?

 

[Maltin]

The problem is mostly that it doesn’t categorise and filter for you in any consistent or systematic way. You can’t just find (e.g.) a “comedy” category and follow that through to a subcategory (e.g. UK sitcoms) and then see everything in that category. So it’s hard to find things to watch until you have enough of a history behind you that you can follow the chain of what others have watched. Thanks to this thread, I do now know that you can do searches for things like ”documentary” but even then, the results are a bizarre mix of helpful and irrelevant.

None of the portals are good — the BBC, Channel 4, ITV all have their (serious) limitations. But at least BBC and Channel 4 do allow me to decide I want to watch a documentary and then show me their documentaries!

When I look at Prime it groups content into categories eg Thrillers, Comedies, Action and adventure, Horror It doesn't sub-categorise but not aware that any of the streaming sites (including TV) do that.

 

[kabbes]

When I look at Prime it groups content into categories eg Thrillers, Comedies, Action and adventure, Horror It doesn't sub-categorise but not aware that any of the streaming sites (including TV) do that.

It offers you some like that, yes. But it’s an extremely limited selection of what it has and there is no way of going deeper.

 

[dessiato]

It had such a disappointing ending that I'm glad it's coming back for a limited series later this year to hopefully put things right.

We aren't there yet. Having to do other things has slowed our progress.

John Lithgow being the best thing about Dexter.

He won awards IIRC for his role. He is very good in it, and a long way from his Third Rock style.

 

[Artaxerxes]

It offers you some like that, yes. But it’s an extremely limited selection of what it has and there is no way of going deeper.

It also tends to send you back to the start when you click through after scrolling down.

When I look at Prime it groups content into categories eg Thrillers, Comedies, Action and adventure, Horror It doesn't sub-categorise but not aware that any of the streaming sites (including TV) do that.

Netflix used to. Amazon can do it if you use the website and are able to get the long list view iirc

 

[kabbes]

It surprised me how limited and unintuitive the Amazon interface is because this is a company that built its success initially (if you can remember back to those days) by being innovative with its selling interface. It was a revelation to have a store that recommended things to you based on what else you liked, and to have straightforward filtering and categorisation tools. I expected them to apply that thinking to their video. There’s certainly a bit of “if you liked this, try that” but that’s about as far as it goes.

 

[Artaxerxes]

As far as I can tell the aim of streaming sites interface is to push what it wants you to watch not allow you to graze. Its got no interest in presenting you with a back catalogue but aims to get you watching the front page shows whether that's via personnel algorithm or the trending option.

 

[ATOMIC SUPLEX]

The problem is mostly that it doesn’t categorise and filter for you in any consistent or systematic way. You can’t just find (e.g.) a “comedy” category and follow that through to a subcategory (e.g. UK sitcoms) and then see everything in that category. So it’s hard to find things to watch until you have enough of a history behind you that you can follow the chain of what others have watched. Thanks to this thread, I do now know that you can do searches for things like ”documentary” but even then, the results are a bizarre mix of helpful and irrelevant.

None of the portals are good — the BBC, Channel 4, ITV all have their (serious) limitations. But at least BBC and Channel 4 do allow me to decide I want to watch a documentary and then show me their documentaries!

I see that it is not ideal, but maybe I have gotten used to it. It does obviously help if you know exactly what you are looking for, but you can also type in vague searches like 'music documentaries'. My biggest problem is that it includes a LOT of junk. If you want 'sci fi comedy film' for instance, you could end up with a shit load of 5 minute home made school project shite.

 

[T & P]

We’ve just discovered Powers. It’s a 2015 series with a basic premise slightly similar to The Boys: some people in the world have superpowers, and some of them use them to commit crimes. It's more police thriller/ crime than dark humour.

Not as great as The Boys, but good enough. It's a paid job unfortunately, but you can watch the first episode for 10p, and if you like it buy the series for a fiver. It has Eddie Izzard as one fo the baddies

I'd never heard of this before, and it turns out it was a Sony Playstation production. I didn't know Playstation had a studio and was involved in TV series...

 

[DotCommunist]

We’ve just discovered Powers. It’s a 2015 series with a basic premise slightly similar to The Boys: some people in the world have superpowers, and some of them use them to commit crimes. It's more police thriller/ crime than dark humour.

Not as great as The Boys, but good enough. It's a paid job unfortunately, but you can watch the first episode for 10p, and if you like it buy the series for a fiver. It has Eddie Izzard as one fo the baddies

I'd never heard of this before, and it turns out it was a Sony Playstation production. I didn't know Playstation had a studio and was involved in TV series...

I thought this was brilliant at the time and Izzard has immense presence in it, but it never got finished. hah, as I recall Izzard was also a baddie in Hannibal in the same year.

 

[sojourner]

Bad Samaritan, with David Tennant and Robert Sheehan. FRom wiki - Sheehan portrays the title character, a valet who burglarizes the houses of the drivers he services, only to discover one of his rich customers (Tennant) is a serial killer.

 

[MBV]

Has anyone started Soulmates? I wasn't blown away by the first episode but it hooked me enough I'll watch the next one at some point.

ETA: Soulmates review – what if Amazon could recommend your one true love?

 

[sojourner]

Dark Waters, about the lawyer who took on Dupont. Now shitting ourselves!

 

[kabbes]

Bad Samaritan, with David Tennant and Robert Sheehan. FRom wiki - Sheehan portrays the title character, a valet who burglarizes the houses of the drivers he services, only to discover one of his rich customers (Tennant) is a serial killer.

Dark Waters, about the lawyer who took on Dupont. Now shitting ourselves!

We saw both of these. Good films

 

[stockwelljonny]

Watched this last night. Loved it, inspirational story and great scenery

 

[Orang Utan]

Watched this last night. Loved it, inspirational story and great scenery

Watched what?

 

[stockwelljonny]

Blutch: Travelogue of a French paraglider traveling the Himalayas by air. He's delightfully crazy and the landscape stunning

Watched this last night. Loved it, inspirational story and great scenery

 

[stockwelljonny]

Watched what?

 

[Orang Utan]

Is it a documentary?

 

[stockwelljonny]

Yes it’s a one off doc on a shoe string, v well done, charming, nutty French bloke paragliding along the length of the Himalayas from peak to peak filming himself on a selfie stick

 

[Artaxerxes]

Yes it’s a one off doc on a shoe string, v well done, charming, nutty French bloke paragliding along the length of the Himalayas from peak to peak filming himself on a selfie stick

I'd be so sure I'd drop the bloody thing

 

[Part 2]

Yes it’s a one off doc on a shoe string, v well done, charming, nutty French bloke paragliding along the length of the Himalayas from peak to peak filming himself on a selfie stick

Thats sounds like something I saw years ago but probably before selfie sticks....does he get stuck on a mountainside and has to eat some kind of potatoes? Wouldn't mind seeing it again.

 

[belboid]

Bad Samaritan, with David Tennant and Robert Sheehan. FRom wiki - Sheehan portrays the title character, a valet who burglarizes the houses of the drivers he services, only to discover one of his rich customers (Tennant) is a serial killer.

just watched that. It was a decent way to spend a cold, otherwise boring, afternoon. Not particularly original, but Sheehan and Tennant are both very watchable.

 

[stockwelljonny]

Thats sounds like something I saw years ago but probably before selfie sticks....does he get stuck on a mountainside and has to eat some kind of potatoes? Wouldn't mind seeing it again.

He got stuck a few times, has a few crashes, got shot at, plays a violin.

 

[Part 2]

He got stuck a few times, has a few crashes, got shot at, plays a violin.

Rings a bell, I'll look it up.

 

[kabbes]

I hadn’t seen Broadchurch but the American remake (also starring David Tennant), Gracepoint, is on Amazon so we gave that a watch. It’s good — no idea how it compares to the original, but I liked it. Tennant, as ever, is the best thing in it but Virgina Kull, who plays the grieving mother, is also excellent. Plus it has the topically named Jacki Weaver.

For those who have seen Broadchurch, I expect it has an identical story. For those who haven’t — it’s available for free on Prime whereas Broadchurch is not.

 

[Spymaster]

We watched Parasite at the weekend. It's an acclaimed Korean black comedy/thriller about a poor family who insinuate themselves into the lives of a rich family. Very funny in places and quite entertaining but gets very dark in the second half. I read the reviews afterwards and they're all about the film being metaphorical and meaningful, which is probably a bit too highbrow for me as far as films are concerned, but it's a good watch.

 

[Spymaster]

.

 

[Spymaster]

.