To DVDs and Beyond: The Netflix Thread

[JasonL]

It is also true that the lead can’t act.

Soooooo the forced Gilmore girl attitude is herself? Huh.

She was notably cringey on Mad Men

[Pham Nuwen]

It is also true that the lead can’t act.

Soooooo the forced Gilmore girl attitude is herself? Huh.

She was notably cringey on Mad Men

I never finished the series.

[Painboy]

It is also true that the lead can’t act.

Soooooo the forced Gilmore girl attitude is herself? Huh.

She was notably cringey on Mad Men

Was she? I always thought it was her weird little friend* everyone hated?

*I think they were also a famous somebody's kid.

[Mo]

The weird kid was the showrunners’ son. Sally Draper was fine.

[Hugh Akston]

[Andrew]

I saw the first 4 vignettes of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Perhaps the last 2 would change my mind, but I was not impressed. First off, the photography is weird. Everything has a slightly too round, somewhat slippery look like the effect of getting too close to a fisheye lens. Also, much of it had that unreal feeling that occurs when HDR is cranked too high. Between the two effects, everything had a fake, cartoony feel, and not in a good way.

I didn't see any point to the Buster Scruggs vignette, and the Meal Ticket vignette wasn't much better.

Near Algodones had the Coen feel was I expecting (absurd while remaining dry humored), and I enjoyed that one. James Franco played his role well, and Stephen Root laughing maniacally while running across a field covered in pans is just what life needs.

All Gold Canyon was the best of the four I saw, and that was biased heavily by great scenery and Tom Waits. Wiki claims the filming location was near Telluride, but it appears to have actually been Upper Piney River near Vail. The golden hour photography really paid off with this one.

[Hugh Akston]

The Gal Who Got Rattled is the best one. Obscure patois and good characterization with a healthy dose of Coen absurd darkness. President Pierce is the hero we need right now.

[dbcooper]

I saw the first 4 vignettes of The Ballad of Buster Scruggs. Perhaps the last 2 would change my mind, but I was not impressed. First off, the photography is weird. Everything has a slightly too round, somewhat slippery look like the effect of getting too close to a fisheye lens. Also, much of it had that unreal feeling that occurs when HDR is cranked too high. Between the two effects, everything had a fake, cartoony feel, and not in a good way.

I didn't see any point to the Buster Scruggs vignette, and the Meal Ticket vignette wasn't much better.

Near Algodones had the Coen feel was I expecting (absurd while remaining dry humored), and I enjoyed that one. James Franco played his role well, and Stephen Root laughing maniacally while running across a field covered in pans is just what life needs.

All Gold Canyon was the best of the four I saw, and that was biased heavily by great scenery and Tom Waits. Wiki claims the filming location was near Telluride, but it appears to have actually been Upper Piney River near Vail. The golden hour photography really paid off with this one.

Yeah, I didn't enjoy what I watched of it. Also thought there was something wrong with my TV for a while, with it looking blown out.

[Ellie]

Near Algodones had the Coen feel was I expecting (absurd while remaining dry humored), and I enjoyed that one. James Franco played his role well, and Stephen Root laughing maniacally while running across a field covered in pans is just what life needs.

Would you say this one avoids anything too mean or upsetting? I love Stephen Root but some of the darker Coen stuff just leaves me a mess.

[Andrew]

Near Algodones had the Coen feel was I expecting (absurd while remaining dry humored), and I enjoyed that one. James Franco played his role well, and Stephen Root laughing maniacally while running across a field covered in pans is just what life needs.

Would you say this one avoids anything too mean or upsetting? I love Stephen Root but some of the darker Coen stuff just leaves me a mess.

What have you found too dark and upsetting by them, and what have you found to be okay?

[Ellie]

I'm trying to remember but it's hard because if I see something upsetting I immediately try to forget it

For example, I liked many parts of O Brother but the part where the guy is getting whipped really bothered me. I didn't like the Baby Face storyline either.

I think I mostly dug True Grit but the tongue biting bothered me.

I didn't like No Country for Old Men (but don't remember most if it).

[Warren]

I'm trying to remember but it's hard because if I see something upsetting I immediately try to forget it

For example, I liked many parts of O Brother but the part where the guy is getting whipped really bothered me. I didn't like the Baby Face storyline either.

I think I mostly dug True Grit but the tongue biting bothered me.

I didn't like No Country for Old Men (but don't remember most if it).

Those line meander too much for me to predict how you might feel about a given movie/scene.

[Pham Nuwen]

Ballad wasn't much on the dark side of their usual stuff. More like Aesop's fables brought to you by the Coen Brothers. It was entertaining but not much on the dark humor.

[Hugh Akston]

Looks like a decent way to kill a couple hours, but the question is whether Bffleck and Oscar Isaac are enough to overcome the sucking charisma void that is Charlie Hunnam.

[Ellie]

Marie Kondo is getting her own Netflix show:

Code: Select all

https://www.facebook.com/konmarimethod/videos/783400421996449/

[Hugh Akston]

I usually rate stand-up comedy somewhere between soccer and CSPAN in terms of watchability, but the new Ellen Degeneres special is pretty solid.

[Warren]

I usually rate stand-up comedy somewhere between soccer and CSPAN in terms of watchability, but the new Ellen Degeneres special is pretty solid.

*squinty eyes*

[thoreau]

Space Force!



It will probably be amusing for one or two episodes, but I don't see myself binge watching this.

[Ellie]

I am five episodes into Russian Doll and it is VERY good. I'm hopeful they can bring it all together at the end.

Edited to add: I blew through the rest of the show tonight. It stumbles on the resolution but it's not a total miss. Still worth watching overall.

[Hugh Akston]

There is some comfort to be gained I suppose from the knowledge that no one can be as tired of watching Arrested Development as the cast are of making it.

[Ellie]

Neither David nor I ever watched the original She-Ra, but we're both enjoying the new Netflix version. It's cute and has some genuinely laugh-out-loud funny lines. And it is so gay. SOOOOO GAY. Every girl is some kind of lesbian archetype (butch dyke! sporty dyke! maker dyke!) and every boy is a twink with a side-shave haircut, and there are flowers and sparkles and crystals and rainbows and female power everywhere and it is a delightful Sapphic riot.

[Mo]

Does Lucy Lawless do voice work for one of the characters?

[nicole]

I was totally disappointed they made She-Ra fat.

I used to say I was her back in nursery school.

[Jasper]

I didn't even know this was a thing.

<Googles>

So they're pre-teen titans now? No thanks.

[dbcooper]

The Dirt was pretty much a TV-movie with tits. Entertaining enough for a Tuesday night.

The Guardian's review was fair:

Where Tremaine’s skillset really shines – and by extension the sequences that separate The Dirt from other genre entries – is in capturing the infectious camaraderie of immature male lunacy.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2019/m ... lix-biopic