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Amazon Prime streaming video recommendations thread

ATOMIC SUPLEX said:
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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100% agree. I used to like these shows when they were about everyday folk. Series one of Big Brother was fascinating. I avoid them like the plague now.
 
kabbes said:
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 decided to give Bosch a go based on your recommendation. Series 1 was pretty good, but series 2 is a total snoozathon.
 
nagapie said:
I decided to give Bosch a go based on your recommendation. Series 1 was pretty good, but series 2 is a total snoozathon.
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It builds. Series 2 is setting up the big themes and plot lines that will come back over the rest of the run. But it’s true — series 2 is probably the weakest and does feel a letdown after series 1. I think my favourite is probably series 4, if I’ve remembered them in the right order.
 
So I completed the 30 Rock rewatch. It’s close to the line in representations, and sometimes crosses it, but I think it always was… I mean - I think the stuff I find unacceptable now, I found unacceptable then. And I’m not sure it’s wrong, exactly. It deliberately shows all kinds of small-scale bigotry, it lampshades that stuff. And from the start has a lot to say about representation of key groups, while doing that in a slapstick style.

it’s nowhere near the achievement of Parks and Rec, and knowing Alec Baldwin is a cunt skews it a bit, because his performance makes it what it is. And recent history wrt Weinstein / Trump put a very different cast on some of the throwaway gags, but it’s not awful at all.
 
spanglechick said:
So I completed the 30 Rock rewatch. It’s close to the line in representations, and sometimes crosses it, but I think it always was… I mean - I think the stuff I find unacceptable now, I found unacceptable then. And I’m not sure it’s wrong, exactly. It deliberately shows all kinds of small-scale bigotry, it lampshades that stuff. And from the start has a lot to say about representation of key groups, while doing that in a slapstick style.

it’s nowhere near the achievement of Parks and Rec, and knowing Alec Baldwin is a cunt skews it a bit, because his performance makes it what it is. And recent history wrt Weinstein / Trump put a very different cast on some of the throwaway gags, but it’s not awful at all.
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Lampshades?
 
spanglechick said:
tvtropes.org

Lampshade Hanging - TV Tropes

Lampshade Hanging (or, more informally, "Lampshading") is the writers' trick of dealing with any element of the story that seems too dubious to take at face value, whether a very implausible plot development or a particularly blatant use of a …
tvtropes.org tvtropes.org
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In the case of 30 Rock, the pigeonholing of just about all the main characters, but especially Tracy and Jenna, as conforming to damaging stereotypes despite the left liberal writers of both TGS, and 30 Rock, is enough to make a questioning spectator look askance. And this is partly mitigated by Liz or whoever explicitly making reference to her supposed feminism/anti racism, making it clear that she’s actively perpetuating the problem.
 
kabbes said:
It builds. Series 2 is setting up the big themes and plot lines that will come back over the rest of the run. But it’s true — series 2 is probably the weakest and does feel a letdown after series 1. I think my favourite is probably series 4, if I’ve remembered them in the right order.
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Got better from episode 6 so still watching.
 
Is that
spanglechick said:
So I completed the 30 Rock rewatch. It’s close to the line in representations, and sometimes crosses it, but I think it always was… I mean - I think the stuff I find unacceptable now, I found unacceptable then. And I’m not sure it’s wrong, exactly. It deliberately shows all kinds of small-scale bigotry, it lampshades that stuff. And from the start has a lot to say about representation of key groups, while doing that in a slapstick style.

it’s nowhere near the achievement of Parks and Rec, and knowing Alec Baldwin is a cunt skews it a bit, because his performance makes it what it is. And recent history wrt Weinstein / Trump put a very different cast on some of the throwaway gags, but it’s not awful at all.
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Is that on prime? I only ever got about half way through before it left ch4
To be fairsh to it, Ive been rewatching parks and rec, and it is nowhere near as good as I thought it was first time around. Same with always sunny in Philadelphia, which I absolutely loved when I first saw it.
 
ATOMIC SUPLEX said:
Is that

Is that on prime? I only ever got about half way through before it left ch4
To be fairsh to it, Ive been rewatching parks and rec, and it is nowhere near as good as I thought it was first time around. Same with always sunny in Philadelphia, which I absolutely loved when I first saw it.
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Yes. Prime.
30 Rock, tbf, doesn’t have the slow start of parks and rec’s first season and a half. It is what it is pretty much from the start.
 
spanglechick said:
Yes. Prime.
30 Rock, tbf, doesn’t have the slow start of parks and rec’s first season and a half. It is what it is pretty much from the start.
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I really didn't feel parks had a particularly slower start.
What I did find interesting though is that originally they are being filmed, it's even mentioned, though over time the format only serves to abstractly express characters inner thoughts.
There is no crew by series 3 I think.
 
LuLaRich is a fascinating (at least after one episode) four-part documentary chronicling the rise and fall of a multi-level marketing empire aka pyramid scheme. It was set up and run by a real mid-west Mormon mom and pop style pair that leave you wondering how much just snowballed out of their control and how much was cynically done on purpose. Sometimes they just seem hopelessly naïve (in her deposition she’s asked, “were you the CEO?” and her rather plaintive answer is, “I don’t know”) and at other times there is a flash of something truly sinister in the eyes.

It’s fascinating for the slightly unhinged display of American worship of free enterprise and also for its demonstration of how in the age of social media something can get way too big way too fast.

Episodes 2 to 4 look as if they just get more and more crazy — I’m fascinated to see more.

ETA: just watched episode 2. Yep, the story is ramping up alright…
 
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Ok, having finished the LuLaRich documentary series, I have to say: do yourselves a favour and give it a watch. It’s really well put together — a bonkers story, a real cast of characters and a precautionary tale of how easy it is to be sucked into a cult. Plus, spoiler, there’s no nicely tied up happy ending because this is real life.
 
Just saw that War Dogs is leaving soon, saw it in the cinema when it came out, was good, entertaining and funny in parts, eye-opening re arms trade and how two frat boy types can end up in the middle of multimillion dollar arms deals.

'Based on the true story of two young men who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America’s allies in Afghanistan.'

Kinda timely, considering the shitshow that is Afghanistan at the moment, albeit this is heavily dramatised, but the point still stands, ie the underlying points about arms dealing and profiteering by Americans/USA.

Watch War Dogs | Prime Video

Based on the true story of two young men who won a $300 million contract from the Pentagon to arm America’s allies in Afghanistan.
www.amazon.co.uk
 
Killing Gunther is 90 minutes of silliness that is quite fun if you’re looking for something light-hearted. It’s like The Office meets Grosse Pointe Blank (only without the real stamp of quality that both those things had.). Forgettable but an entertaining way to spend an hour and a half.
 
Just watching Boss Level. Another groundhog day film.

Bit of a weird one, in that it is obviously bigish budget with some biggish names. . . but it's like a masterclass in how to fuck up your film.
It's 40 minutes in and only just finished the set up. All in flipping voice over, another no no. . . apart from an explanatory (more??!!!??) flash back which was so boring (massive long monologue from mel gibson) that I zoned out and have no idea what he was on about.
I'm now 50 minutes in and it feels like the film has now started.
What a mess.
 
ATOMIC SUPLEX said:
Just watching that Chris Pratt 'Tomorrow War' time travel aliens film they have been trailing on Prime.
As predicted it's utter shite.
I've not gotten to the end yet, but it's so uninspired, yet somehow has so much money thrown at it.
Usual CGI alien types. Time travel rules that are not properly thought out, and basically just straight up boring, with no twists as such. Anything that might be considered a 'twist' or 'interesting plot point' isn't because it is there purely to drive the script in a convenient direction.

Ah, now it is just finishing up with a hugely convenient death.

I wish films would not write themselves out of interesting moral dilemmas. Anyway I suppose I should wait until the end.

Why is he not being de-briefed? Why is he trying to figure this out on his own at home?
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The trailer looked fucking awful so I gave this one a miss. If the trailer can't give you a false impression of a shite film, what's the point?
 
Johnny Vodka said:
Looks good.

www.theguardian.com

The Green Knight review – Dev Patel rides high on sublimely beautiful quest

Director David Lowery conjures up visual wonders and metaphysical mysteries from the anonymously authored 14th-century chivalric poem
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

I have Disney+ at the moment, though.
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This may be a little too slow and arty for some but I liked it a lot and much of the imagery has stayed with me. Thread here:

www.urban75.net

The Green Knight

Admittedly its only the teaser trailer, but it looks a bit decent:
www.urban75.net www.urban75.net
 
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