Apple TV +

[ZOK]

There’s a new series of Tehran coming up this month too.

[QuackQuack]

1 hour ago, ckny said:

I hadn't signed in to Apple TV+ for a long time, so was surprised to see a whole load of new shows, all with big name Hollywood stars in starring roles.

 

Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman

WeCrashed, starring Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, starring Samuel L Jackson

The Shrink Next Door, starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd

 

Anybody seen anything good on the service recently?

 

Pachinko! Nobody is talking about it for some reason.

 

Based on the novel from a few years ago. Tells a story of a Korean family over 3 generations based around one girl/mum/grandma. 

[JohnC]

Tehran Season 2 trailer

 

[Gigawatt]

I would like to recommend The After Party. It’s a comic whodunnit, centred around a death at a party following a high-school reunion. It’s an 8-part series of 30ish minute episodes, so easy breezy to get through. 
 

I think it’s actually a really well done mystery in itself, but the gimmick is (no story spoilers here)

Spoiler

every episode is a different genre. So the first is a Rom-Com for example, and each episode is themed around a particular character’s point of view.

It stars Tiffany Haddish, Dave Franco, Ike Barinholtz and a few lesser know names, plus my personal favourite being Ben Schwartz in almost full ‘Jean-Ralphio’ mode. I really enjoyed it, and I reckon if you watched the first 2 episodes you’d know if you are going to like it or not. 

[deKay]

Anyone watched Roar yet? Thoughts if so?

[Festoon]

On 13/04/2022 at 21:21, Gigawatt said:

I would like to recommend The After Party. It’s a comic whodunnit, centred around a death at a party following a high-school reunion. It’s an 8-part series of 30ish minute episodes, so easy breezy to get through. 
 

I think it’s actually a really well done mystery in itself, but the gimmick is (no story spoilers here)

  Hide contents

every episode is a different genre. So the first is a Rom-Com for example, and each episode is themed around a particular character’s point of view.

It stars Tiffany Haddish, Dave Franco, Ike Barinholtz and a few lesser know names, plus my personal favourite being Ben Schwartz in almost full ‘Jean-Ralphio’ mode. I really enjoyed it, and I reckon if you watched the first 2 episodes you’d know if you are going to like it or not. 

 

And Stath Les.

[Fireproofradiator]

 

19 hours ago, deKay said:

Anyone watched Roar yet? Thoughts if so?

Watched the first one yesterday. Big Glow fans round our house. 
 

I wasn’t blown away. Good central performance but the conceit was treated wi kid gloves. Ten minutes in I was asking ‘what is this about?’  Which is a bit tough for a 30 min anthology.
 

Excited about The Woman Who Was Kept On A Shelf though.

[Minion]

On 11/04/2022 at 13:41, ckny said:

I hadn't signed in to Apple TV+ for a long time, so was surprised to see a whole load of new shows, all with big name Hollywood stars in starring roles.

 

Slow Horses, starring Gary Oldman

WeCrashed, starring Anne Hathaway and Jared Leto

The Last Days of Ptolemy Grey, starring Samuel L Jackson

The Shrink Next Door, starring Will Ferrell and Paul Rudd

 

Anybody seen anything good on the service recently?

 

I had the mother of all hangovers yesterday and binged the 7 episodes that are available of WeCrashed. On the surface it's extremely well produced, high budget, lavish sets and a big name cast. But the series has no soul, it treats it's two central characters with derision and contempt but then somehow asks us to follow their story without giving us any reason to care. Leto's character is just this wild caricature and we are never given any reason for why he is like that or what motivates him except perhaps ego, it's a real waste. They do spend more time on Hathaway's character with backstory and some actual explanation of her mindstate but again she's just  presented as this entitled spoilt petty pathetic excuse for a human being. It is a rather crazy story but we never really see how they got so much funding beyond Leto's character somehow convincing people to give him money as if he is some amazing fraudster, there had to be more to it. Why were investment banks and individuals throwing money into that space. It feels like a story based on a blog it's just really quite thin. Still though worth a watch if you have nothing better to do.

[Gotters]

Started Suspicion last night, think it was billed as 'from the people behind Homeland', got Uma Thurman in (for a minute or 2 an episode).

 

It was one part pish and one part rattling along interesting story. It's got that semi lavish budget but shot on the cheap feel the Harlan Coben stuff on Netflix has (all the locations look empty but that may be a covid shooting thing).

 

I fully suspect it will get stupid but the premise and pace the first 2 eps moved along at made it all quite watchable, and we'll be doing 1 or 2 more tonight. 

[Gambit]

20 hours ago, Minion said:

. Leto's character is just this wild caricature and we are never given any reason for why he is like that 

 

This is why I didn't even bother starting it. Sounds like your typical Leto performance!

[Minion]

4 minutes ago, Gambit said:

 

This is why I didn't even bother starting it. Sounds like your typical Leto performance!

 

Yeah he is literally just an accent, there really is nothing more to the character.

[Rayn]

I must admit Pachinko wasn't on my radar but decided to give it a chance last night. Utterly captivating and beautifully shot, if the first episode is an indication of the overall quality this is going to be one to remember. 

[Bazjam]

2 hours ago, Rayn said:

I must admit Pachinko wasn't on my radar but decided to give it a chance last night. Utterly captivating and beautifully shot, if the first episode is an indication of the overall quality this is going to be one to remember. 

I’m 3 episodes in and loving it. I’m a real sucker for stories that span over the time frame of someone’s life like this.

[Gotters]

On 17/04/2022 at 14:15, Gotters said:

Started Suspicion last night, think it was billed as 'from the people behind Homeland', got Uma Thurman in (for a minute or 2 an episode).

 

It was one part pish and one part rattling along interesting story. It's got that semi lavish budget but shot on the cheap feel the Harlan Coben stuff on Netflix has (all the locations look empty but that may be a covid shooting thing).

 

I fully suspect it will get stupid but the premise and pace the first 2 eps moved along at made it all quite watchable, and we'll be doing 1 or 2 more tonight. 

 

from halfway thru (of its 8 eps) this turned to total garbage, ending very stupidly and very weakly. 

 

in the camp of if I'd known how it was going to develop wouldn't have bothered starting, the first couple of eps are great though.

[pledge]

On 21/04/2022 at 11:36, Rayn said:

I must admit Pachinko wasn't on my radar but decided to give it a chance last night. Utterly captivating and beautifully shot, if the first episode is an indication of the overall quality this is going to be one to remember. 

 

On 21/04/2022 at 13:57, Bazjam said:

I’m 3 episodes in and loving it. I’m a real sucker for stories that span over the time frame of someone’s life like this.

 

Pachinko is quite slow going, but suitably epic. I absolutely love the intro sequence with everyone from the time periods together. Like in Mad Men everyone in a suit just looks really cool. Especially this guy:

 

[Festoon]

1 hour ago, pledge said:

 

 

Pachinko is quite slow going, but suitably epic. I absolutely love the intro sequence with everyone from the time periods together. Like in Mad Men everyone in a suit just looks really cool. Especially this guy:

 

 

It's weird that this and Peacemaker showed up at similar times with dancing intros.

[Fireproofradiator]

Hey so the second episode of Roar was really good. It’s about the relationship between a mum with dementia/memory loss and their daughter. My mum has advanced Parkinson’s so that had my attention but the central conceit was so well executed and the performances so strong (Judy Davis and Nicole Kidman in particular).

 

I loved it, although in contrast to the first ep I felt like the ending was a little too tied with a bow. 

[BedroomBusinessman]

Trailer for The Big Conn is out, it’s the latest by the team who made the excellent Mcmillions documentary.

 

Eric C. Conn was a lawyer living a little too large in eastern Kentucky… until two whistleblowers realized he was at the center of government fraud worth over half a billion dollars, one of the largest in US history. And that was just the beginning.

 

 

[PeteJ]

Three episodes into Slow Horses, really good so far. Starts brilliantly as well, really intense introduction. 

 

Think Spooks but way better. Gary Oldman is outstanding (as per default), his utterly crushing one-liners are amazing. 

[PeteJ]

Slow Horses has finished now. They stick the landing and setup series 2 well. Well worth your time, and Gary Oldman is outstanding. A really great mix of tension, drama and laugh out loud dialogue. 

 

Series 2 not only confirmed, but already filmed and expected later this year. 

 

Based on a series of books and from what I've read Oldman is happy to keep it going as long as possible as he enjoyed his time so much.

 

This could build into something really special. 

[Sabreman]

Yeah I really enjoyed Slow Horses. Plot wise it was a bit standard and predictable, but I loved the characters and Oldman in particular. They're all sporadically competent in their own ways, but at the same time they do genuinely fuck things up. The season 2 preview was so comprehensive I expected an announcement it was starting next week.

[pledge]

It just being six episodes was a bit of a surprise (That's fairly standard for a British broadcast show but not for streaming). Did they film them back to back or there was a delay in airing the first season?

[Harsin]

I started a thread for the show but no bugger posted on it.

[Silent Runner]

Anyone watched Shining Girls? I read the book years ago and liked it but I've a lot of shows on the roster at the moment, not sure I've space for another.

[Stanley]

5 minutes ago, Silent Runner said:

Anyone watched Shining Girls? I read the book years ago and liked it but I've a lot of shows on the roster at the moment, not sure I've space for another.

Yeah one episode in and I’m enjoying it, it doesn’t give much away and I’ve gone in entirely blind, very intriguing premise in which I want to know more. 

[alex3d]

On 16/04/2022 at 19:42, Minion said:

 

I had the mother of all hangovers yesterday and binged the 7 episodes that are available of WeCrashed. On the surface it's extremely well produced, high budget, lavish sets and a big name cast. But the series has no soul, it treats it's two central characters with derision and contempt but then somehow asks us to follow their story without giving us any reason to care. Leto's character is just this wild caricature and we are never given any reason for why he is like that or what motivates him except perhaps ego, it's a real waste. They do spend more time on Hathaway's character with backstory and some actual explanation of her mindstate but again she's just  presented as this entitled spoilt petty pathetic excuse for a human being. It is a rather crazy story but we never really see how they got so much funding beyond Leto's character somehow convincing people to give him money as if he is some amazing fraudster, there had to be more to it. Why were investment banks and individuals throwing money into that space. It feels like a story based on a blog it's just really quite thin. Still though worth a watch if you have nothing better to do.

 

Agree. And actually I really don't understand what the producers / directors did there. They spent an enormous amount of time on Rebekah (and even her father!?!), while treating the big things you mention (Masa's goals and background, Adam's drive etc.) as sort of a small side story. The story behind WeWork has sooo much potential and there was no reason at all to spend 25% or even more on Rebekah.

[deKay]

On 16/04/2022 at 18:36, Fireproofradiator said:

 

Watched the first one yesterday. Big Glow fans round our house. 
 

I wasn’t blown away. Good central performance but the conceit was treated wi kid gloves. Ten minutes in I was asking ‘what is this about?’  Which is a bit tough for a 30 min anthology.
 

Excited about The Woman Who Was Kept On A Shelf though.

Watched the first 4 and that was the standout. First one just ended with no sort of resolution and was incomprehensible. 

[Fireproofradiator]

12 hours ago, deKay said:

Watched the first 4 and that was the standout. First one just ended with no sort of resolution and was incomprehensible. 

 

I wouldn't say it was incomprehensible. It was a fairly simple concept. As a piece of telly it just didn't seem like it was particularly interested in that concept. I thought the scenes where characters were talking were more compelling.

 

I liked '...On a Shelf' and it's probably the most artfully designed of the ones we've watched but Betty Gilpin had a lot of heavy lifting.

 

Watched '...Fed by a Duck' last night which was good but we got distracted by imagining the long conversations production would have had about whether to animate Steve's (think that's his name. He seemed like a Steve) beak moving when he spoke or not, which suggests it wasn't completely holding our attention...

 

I might be doing light grizzling here but what Roar has managed to do in our house is get a man who identifies as a feminist to watch several hours of television about the subject.

 

Nicole Kidman exec produces, and I imagine she read '...Eats photographs' and just said 'Mine!' It's the standout for me so far.

 

I'm excited about the next one tho, which has Alison Brie in it.

[deKay]

23 minutes ago, Fireproofradiator said:

I wouldn't say it was incomprehensible. It was a fairly simple concept. As a piece of telly it just didn't seem like it was particularly interested in that concept. I thought the scenes where characters were talking were more compelling.

 

I mean the ending is incomprehensible. How can she go back in and do whatever if she's invisible to everyone still? Or is she not, and if not, why not?

[Fireproofradiator]

2 hours ago, deKay said:

 

I mean the ending is incomprehensible. How can she go back in and do whatever if she's invisible to everyone still? Or is she not, and if not, why not?

 

Oh the ending, yes! I feel like the ending might have gone over my head cos the cut to black seemed like a bold florish.