Netflix recommendations

[Red Cat]

I did receive an insight in an article I read a few years back about why some actors have more success than others. It was referring to one of those Hollywood actors that has been in more things than you’d think their acting ability justified (I think it might have been Keanu Reeves but that doesn’t really matter). In a moment of candour, a producer said that this actor gets employed a lot basically because they’re a good employee — they work hard, they do it without complaint, they’re always nice to the rest of the cast and crew, no matter how junior, they don’t misbehave, they’re always on time and ready to go etc etc. Their acting was good enough not to really be an issue, at which point all these other things about filmmaking come to the fore. And that’s particularly true for a producer, who has a lot of sway over who gets employed.

Ever since then, I’ve always borne in mind that the opposite is also the case. So it might be that an excellent actor is just a pain in the arse to work with and so not worth a producer’s effort.

I found it a useful reminder that even filmmaking is just a workplace and that the usual human elements come into play.

That's really interesting, bet you it was Keanu Reaves, he does seem like a good guy.

 

[kabbes]

A good friend who's an actor always says there are a lot of decent actors out there and there's always a lot of luck involved but the thing that'll make people think of you for their next production is how you are to work with.

(Do you turn up on time, know your lines, treat the crew politely, take feedback, interact well with the other actors.) So yeah, like work in general.

Yeah, and I suspect that a lead who behaves like that will bring out the best in all the other actors too. Essentially, they become a “force multiplier”. So as the moviegoer, you might not even notice how good they are in that holistic sense. But the producers and directors notice it.

 

[krtek a houby]

Have you tried Green Frontier? One of their best series but obscure in this country.

Started it last night.

Haunting, "Amazon Noir". On the surface, it's a cop drama... but much more than that. Only 2 eps in but utterly hooked.

 

[Spymaster]

Started it last night.

Haunting, "Amazon Noir". On the surface, it's a cop drama... but much more than that. Only 2 eps in but utterly hooked.

Looks alright but is it a supernatural thing?

 

[Brainaddict]

Looks alright but is it a supernatural thing?

Yes, to some extent, but in a restrained way most of the time, it's mostly concerned with the echoes of colonialism in the present day. Not like Invisible City, the Brasilian series that also relied on folklore somewhat but just splashed magic around all over the place.

 

[krtek a houby]

Looks alright but is it a supernatural thing?

What Brainaddict said

(Well, so far)

 

[Spymaster]

What Brainaddict said

(Well, so far)

I’ll give a go but if it goes all witches and woo, I’ll be back for you two.

 

[kabbes]

I watched Dopesick (Hulu) a few months ago - the same story basically, but Dopesick has more episodes - goes into more detail. The difference in tone is huge. Painkiller seems to be trying to reach a younger audience, with more drama/comedy and loud soundtrack. I think maybe not the appropriate tone for the seriousness of the story... But if it means more people get to learn about this awful scandal (not quite genocide, but maybe yes genocide if people in pain were an ethnic group) then great.

Watched the first 2 episodes of Painkiller last night, and it was ok, but like I said the tone made me feel a bit uncomfortable at times. Like Netflix wanted to also make money out of the opioid epidemic, after seeing how well Dopesick did...

I’ve watched 5/6 Painkiller episodes now and I think it’s been magnificent. The tone is spot on in my view — massively uncomfortable viewing, that uses every filmmaking trick in the book to ratchet up that sense of discomfort. It creates a massive feeling of anger in the viewer, with it really being laid bare how easily that ordinary families’ lives could just be destroyed by this drug, and how much in contrast that was to the at-all-costs profit-making and victim-blaming of Perdue.

 

[krtek a houby]

I’ll give a go but if it goes all witches and woo, I’ll be back for you two.

So far, you can put any oddness down to psychedelics and that's as much as am saying...

 

[kabbes]

Anyone looking for funny light comedy entertainment look no further than Nobody’s Looking. It’s a Brazilian miniseries about a newly created guardian angel who breaks the rules regarding interaction with humans and starts to mingle with them. Lots of MDMA use, sex and general madness. Very good so far

ETA: it also questions humanity’s belief systems and the purpose and morality of deities, so it’s not sympathetic to religion, for anyone thinking the series sounds cheesy and god-bothering in nature.

I’ve started to watch this. The first episode was interesting —the show appears to possibly be a kind of metaphor for shitty unquestioning bureaucratic pointlessness? I thought that it was worth a look anyway, if only because one of the joys of Netflix is the chance to watch shows from countries other than the usual mix we get presented with.

 

[tony.c]

Great series is Top Boy.

Final series of Top Boy is on Netflix today. Getting good reviews.

Top Boy season 5 review: The crime drama's grittiest season yet is almost perfect

Does Top Boy's final season earn its street cred?

www.digitalspy.com

 

[Numbers]

We’re been binging season 3 & 4 the last cpl of days and have 1 more ep before we start on the final season.

 

[Idris2002]

I’ve watched 5/6 Painkiller episodes now and I think it’s been magnificent. The tone is spot on in my view — massively uncomfortable viewing, that uses every filmmaking trick in the book to ratchet up that sense of discomfort. It creates a massive feeling of anger in the viewer, with it really being laid bare how easily that ordinary families’ lives could just be destroyed by this drug, and how much in contrast that was to the at-all-costs profit-making and victim-blaming of Perdue.

I'll come straight to the point. Mrs Idris is not keen on it, because the Sackler family were Jewish. She suspects that it may lend itself to political agendas other than the "scourge the boss class of big pharma" agenda - someone else may end up getting scourged as a result.

 

[chandlerp]

I've only seen the original series so far, the one they now call Top Boy Summerhouse

 

[rubbershoes]

I've only seen the original series so far, the one they now call Top Boy Summerhouse

The newer series are different but still good

 

[LDC]

Didn't realise Top Boy was written by Ronan Bennett, ex-IRA and an anarchist (at least of sorts in the past)!

Ronan Bennett - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[DaveCinzano]

Didn't realise Top Boy was written by Ronan Bennett, ex-IRA and an anarchist (at least of sorts in the past)!

Ronan Bennett - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

It's almost as though you don't read my posts properly

ETA

Worth checking out some of his other stuff:

'Action bureaucracy' - slow TV from a different age

Excellent name for it :thumbs: I went through a period of going through this sort of stuff a while back. The Sandbaggers is definitely worth your time. Brought all three Sandbaggers series on DVD on the strength of this thread. First three binged yesterday, excellent.

www.urban75.net

Great British Gangster Movies

Sixties, if you don't mind, ladies :D:D

www.urban75.net

https://www.urban75.net/forums/threads/best-films-others-may-not-have-heard-of.28617/#post-1045170

 

[AnnO'Neemus]

Didn't realise Top Boy was written by Ronan Bennett, ex-IRA and an anarchist (at least of sorts in the past)!

Ronan Bennett - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

I knew. His (and Guardian journalist Georgina Henry's) son used to pop into our squatted social centre's bike workshop sometimes. So I knew he lived in Hackney and wasn't some random chap in the home counties writing something edgy. He lived in inner city London and had a young lad who went to a local school, etc., so presumably gained insights into youth culture partly through his son, but presumably also through research, not least the language/dialogue sound realistic. One of my squatmates mentioned something about his background back then and I Googled.

 

[Sir Belchalot]

Didn't realise Top Boy was written by Ronan Bennett, ex-IRA and an anarchist (at least of sorts in the past)!

Ronan Bennett - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Bit irksome, whoever wrote that Wiki, blaming the punks on the closure of the Autonomy Centre when we were the ones providing the rent money by putting on gigs there.

 

[Epona]

Liebes Kind (Dear Child) is not bad if you like the sort of police procedural/psychological thriller style kidnapped and kept in a basement room type genre - it's a German Netflix mini-series.

 

[Epona]

Oh also the film The Little Things is relatively new to Netflix - again one for the police procedural/crime/serial killer type fans, stars Denzel Washington who I would watch recite the phone book, it's not a brilliant film but it's decent enough if you are a fan of the genre.

 

[Epona]

Also, I know Flanagan's Netflix Horror adaptations aren't universally loved, but I'm a fan and am looking forward to The Fall of the House of Usher which is due for release on 12th October.

 

[Oriole]

Liebes Kind (Dear Child) is not bad if you like the sort of police procedural/psychological thriller style kidnapped and kept in a basement room type genre - it's a German Netflix mini-series.

The actress playing Hannah did creepy very well. I struggled with the suspension of disbelief but it was OK.

 

[Oriole]

That's what my "for you" offerings feels like at the moment because I've been watching a lot of ludicrous stuff but felt either too lazy to look for something else and thought might as well see how it ends.
For example, Vortex (if time travelling and the consequences of meddling with the past is your jam, go for it but it soon becomes clear that someone had an idea but part way through they weren't sure how they wanted it to go).

 

[T & P]

This not (yet) a recommendation but rather a comment on Who is Erin Carter, the Netflix’s new miniseries that has for some reason become one of the most Marmite shows ever. So much so that the degree of differing opinions has become news. For the most part it seems to be either 1/10 or 10/10

'Who is Erin Carter?' is seriously dividing viewers

Is the new crime miniseries a 10/10 hit, or “corny”?

www.glamourmagazine.co.uk

We’ve watched the first two episodes and I would say it’s neither. 6/10 so far thanks to its fast paced entertaining plot. Perhaps it gets really bad in the latter episodes.

 

[kabbes]

This not (yet) a recommendation but rather a comment on Who is Erin Carter, the Netflix’s new miniseries that has for some reason become one of the most Marmite shows ever…

We’ve watched the first two episodes and I would say it’s neither. 6/10 so far

Much like Marmite then

 

[T & P]

Well, we finished it last night. It’s full of plot holes and requires a significant degree of suspension of disbelief- but then no more than countless other series or films of the genre.

All I can say is that we finished its seven episodes over the weekend and found it a perfectly entertaining show. Silly as fuck, but good as a cheap thrill series you watch once and never revisit. Certainly a recommendation from me to anyone who enjoys cheap thrill series. Better than lot others, and a bit of social commentary on the well-off expat community, and with a beautiful backdrop

It’s not Killing Eve and certainly no 10/10 gem, but IMO it’s even less of the car crash the weirdo 1/5 Guardian review would suggest. I’d genuinely interested to know what might have triggered those explosively negative reviews. I do love the fact that it has been the most watched show on Netflix for two weeks and counting in the UK, US and multiple other countries. If the trend continues, stand by for a new Guardian review in a a few weeks’ time giving it 4/5 stars and calling it the surprise action hit of 2023

 

[WhyLikeThis]

I'll come straight to the point. Mrs Idris is not keen on it, because the Sackler family were Jewish. She suspects that it may lend itself to political agendas other than the "scourge the boss class of big pharma" agenda - someone else may end up getting scourged as a result.

First they came for the psychotic, mass murdering big pharma.

 

[Chz]

Well, we finished it last night. It’s full of plot holes and requires a significant degree of suspension of disbelief- but then no more than countless other series or films of the genre.

All I can say is that we finished its seven episodes over the weekend and found it a perfectly entertaining show. Silly as fuck, but good as a cheap thrill series you watch once and never revisit. Certainly a recommendation from me to anyone who enjoys cheap thrill series. Better than lot others, and a bit of social commentary on the well-off expat community, and with a beautiful backdrop

It’s not Killing Eve and certainly no 10/10 gem, but IMO it’s even less of the car crash the weirdo 1/5 Guardian review would suggest. I’d genuinely interested to know what might have triggered those explosively negative reviews. I do love the fact that it has been the most watched show on Netflix for two weeks and counting in the UK, US and multiple other countries. If the trend continues, stand by for a new Guardian review in a a few weeks’ time giving it 4/5 stars and calling it the surprise action hit of 2023

As we put it over here, "It's very silly, but not necessarily in a bad way. Only a couple of absolute howlers in terms of ludicrousness."
I think the wrap up wasn't very satisfying, but getting there was entertaining enough.

 

[Idris2002]

First they came for the psychotic, mass murdering big pharma.

Yes, it's not like there's no centuries-long history of Jews being collectively scapegoat for the crimes of class society.

Anyway, I prefer the story about Khrushchev at the twentieth party congress.