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Amazon Prime streaming video recommendations thread

Amazon have just given me 15 smackers is there anything worth watching for a month, or should I wait for a new series of the boys/expanse ?
 
Amazon have just given me 15 smackers is there anything worth watching for a month, or should I wait for a new series of the boys/expanse ?

Tales From the Loop, think mentioned it earlier in the thread. Beautiful, slow sci-fi - kind of like the 80s iteration of the Twilight Zone series and set in small town where discarded tech is impacting on the community.
 
We should probably compile a list of the standard recommendations (whilst recognising we are never going to get unanimous acclaim for anything). All recommendations subject to taste — it’s on the list because a lot of us like it, but it could reasonably be not your thing.

The shows that spring to my mind, to kick us off. At some point, we’ll need to add short descriptions.

Crime/Police
Great
Goliath
Bosch
Hanna

Good
Jack Ryan

Fantasy/sci-fi/comic book
Great
The Expanse
The Boys
Undone

Good
Invincible
Upload
American Gods
Tales from the Loop
Truth Seekers
Man in the High Castle
Future Man

Historical/Period
Great
The Marvellous Mrs Maisel
 
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i think all of those are free on Prime though
True — I didn’t actually mean to link my post to one in which somebody asked for paid-for recommendations! I’m just thinking that we often get people on the thread saying they have a month of free prime and what should they watch? So it’s useful for us to have a record of what is good and great
 
In putting that list together, I realise that it includes four series at least (each with multiple seasons) that are up there with my all time favourite telly. So that’s not bad for something that I view largely as a freebie add-on to a package delivery service
 
We should probably compile a list of the standard recommendations (whilst recognising we are never going to get unanimous acclaim for anything). All recommendations subject to taste — it’s on the list because a lot of us like it, but it could reasonably be not your thing.

The shows that spring to my mind, to kick us off. At some point, we’ll need to add short descriptions.

Crime/Police
Great
Goliath
Bosch
Hanna

Good
Jack Ryan

Fantasy/sci-fi/comic book
Great
The Expanse
The Boys
Undone

Good
Invincible
Upload
American Gods
Tales from the Loop
Truth Seekers
Man in the High Castle

Historical/Period
Great
The Marvellous Mrs Maisel
A decent list. Though I never got on with a lot of them myself.
You are right. As negative as I am I could write a fairly decent prime list of things I have enjoyed/could recommend.

The Expanse
The Boys
Undone
Upload

Would all be on it.
 
I think I value prime for the films more than the series so far, as I’ve never really liked their original series.

I will be sticking with prime for a few months though as they’ve got all of the Autumn international rugby matches.
 
Unfortunately this is behind the Shudder paywall, but I am really enjoying Slasher: Flesh and Blood.

The Slasher series (as well as the films tbh) had always passed me by- I guess I had subsconciousnly concluded from its title that it was going to be a gore fest teen series of limited substance targetting the Final Destination demographics. But it seems I was wrong to judge this series by its cover. Three episodes in, this is a well-written and produced horror anthology story, not that dissimilar from the likes of American Horror Story, if not as big budgeted.


Has anyone here seen the previous three seasons, and if so what did peeps think of them?
 
Unfortunately this is behind the Shudder paywall, but I am really enjoying Slasher: Flesh and Blood.

The Slasher series (as well as the films tbh) had always passed me by- I guess I had subsconciousnly concluded from its title that it was going to be a gore fest teen series of limited substance targetting the Final Destination demographics. But it seems I was wrong to judge this series by its cover. Three episodes in, this is a well-written and produced horror anthology story, not that dissimilar from the likes of American Horror Story, if not as big budgeted.


Has anyone here seen the previous three seasons, and if so what did peeps think of them?


I saw the first two seasons of Slasher and thought they were just about watchable but I actually forgot that series exists, which says it all. I think any of the Final Destination movies is a hell of a lot more fun.
 
Future Man is great. Whereas there's no guarantee you'll like it if you persevere for a bit longer ATOMIC SUPLEX , the story and the characters really develop further and get better as the series progresses. I enjoyed the other two seasons as well. Some very funny moments and memorable performances :D
And that rare thing — a proper story arc over three seasons that was envisaged from the start and ties up neatly at the end
 
I saw the first two seasons of Slasher and thought they were just about watchable but I actually forgot that series exists, which says it all. I think any of the Final Destination movies is a hell of a lot more fun.
I see what you mean tbh. I didn't mention it but on the strength of this new season I gave a go to the first episode of the first series (I think), and it didn't grip me as much. But the premise of this one is much more interesting, if not exactly original. Rather than a group of people who did something naughty years ago being killed at a mountain resort one by one, as S1 appears to be about, this one is about a rather fucked up family who are made to compete against each other for the sole massive inheritance of the head of the family in a series of brutal challenges, and with a mysterious killer hiding in the house trying to off them all for reasons unknown. Think 'Succession meets Saw' :D
 
Just noticed that UnREAL is on Amazon Prime in the freebie section.

"UnREAL gives a fictitious behind-the-scenes glimpse into the chaos surrounding the production of a dating competition program. This provocative drama shows how a young producer manipulates her relationships with, and among, the contestants to get the dramatic footage that the program's dispassionate executive producer demands."


I've already seen it. I thought it was really good. The premise, as above, is a comedy-drama version of behind-the-scenes on a 'scripted reality' show like The Bachelor, and pretty much all the characters are awful manipulative people, the contestants and the production team. They're so awful, it's kind of funny. But then you realise how fucked up the whole scenario is, and even some of the most awful manipulative people are sympathetic characters, because you realise they're that way because they're so fucked up too. Some good roles for women, there are strong (but also vulnerable and messed up) women characters.
 
Just noticed that UnREAL is on Amazon Prime in the freebie section.

"UnREAL gives a fictitious behind-the-scenes glimpse into the chaos surrounding the production of a dating competition program. This provocative drama shows how a young producer manipulates her relationships with, and among, the contestants to get the dramatic footage that the program's dispassionate executive producer demands."


I've already seen it. I thought it was really good. The premise, as above, is a comedy-drama version of behind-the-scenes on a 'scripted reality' show like The Bachelor, and pretty much all the characters are awful manipulative people, the contestants and the production team. They're so awful, it's kind of funny. But then you realise how fucked up the whole scenario is, and even some of the most awful manipulative people are sympathetic characters, because you realise they're that way because they're so fucked up too. Some good roles for women, there are strong (but also vulnerable and messed up) women characters.
Sounds interesting — I shall give that a go
 
30 Rock has turned up, in case anyone fancies a rewatch. When it’s good, it’s very good.
love it, but I suspect some of it will not have ‘aged’ well as there are so many stereotypes played for laughs that could be considered punching down these days
 
I know someone that worked on these type of programmes and he said Unreal is pretty close to what actually happens in making them.
I haven't seen the show but have worked on and around these types of show in most areas of production. It's really easy to slowly become manipulative for the purposes of the show without even really realising. I think a lot of the time some people have the best intentions and don't even realise they are doing it, it all passes down the line from casting, to filming and directing and then to editing and scripting and before you know it you have completely manipulated and twisted a situation, played with someones life. Pressure from producers and executives is the worst because they technically don't have to get their hands dirty, just make unreasonable demands.
It's a shame. It's ruined a few shows in my opinion.

They should do a comedy show about behind the scenes of ghost show production too. That is genuinely fucking hilarious. . . far more so than watching the final product.
 
In The Psychopath Test, Jon Ronson talks about a conversation he has with a producer on one of these reality shows. He said she asks people what medication they’re on. If they’re on an anti-psychotic then they represent too big a risk for the show. If they’re not on any medication, they’ll probably be too stable. However, if they’re on something like an SSRI or other antidepressant or anti anxiety medication, they represent just the right level of risk to themselves and others to be potentially entertaining.

So yes, I can pretty much believe anything about the makers of these shows. Exploitative doesn’t even begin to describe it.
 
In The Psychopath Test, Jon Ronson talks about a conversation he has with a producer on one of these reality shows. He said she asks people what medication they’re on. If they’re on an anti-psychotic then they represent too big a risk for the show. If they’re not on any medication, they’ll probably be too stable. However, if they’re on something like an SSRI or other antidepressant or anti anxiety medication, they represent just the right level of risk to themselves and others to be potentially entertaining.

So yes, I can pretty much believe anything about the makers of these shows. Exploitative doesn’t even begin to describe it.
I genuinely don't think it's what people want. It's what people have been fed and what they now expect. For instance, when it started, come dine with me was a nice show about people who were passionate about cooking food who got to meet other people who were the same in the same local area. It was a charming show in the same way bake off perhaps was.
Somewhere along the way a young producer wanted it to be full of people who all rub each other up the wrong way, have comically bad levels of cookery skill and get pissed and embarrass themselves. It doesn't have to be that way to be entertaining. Certainly for me, conflict is not entertainment. In a show about food and relationships I don't want to see people being upset, I want to see people being nice and having a good time.

Even big brother started out as a genuinely interesting social experiment.
 
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