Now Watching...

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Artemis
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Re: Now Watching...

#251 Post by Artemis » Thu Nov 02, 2017 2:06 pm

wally wrote:about to start that one, I've heard others say good things about it as well.
I just finished American Vandal, a satirical take on documentaries like "Making a Murderer" and "Serial"
well done.

Just finished watching this series- loved it! It was really funny...laugh out loud funny! :thumb:

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Re: Now Watching...

#252 Post by Artemis » Sun Nov 05, 2017 6:32 am

After reading this Vulture article about Red Oaks, I decided to give it a try. Has anybody here seen it?
After the first few episodes, I was hooked and ended up binge-watching the entire first season. The episodes are less than 30 minutes..

Give it a try!


http://www.vulture.com/2017/11/red-oaks ... _medium=s1

A Tribute to Red Oaks, One of TV’s Most Underappreciated Shows

In mid-October, Amazon released the third and final season of Red Oaks, the streaming platform’s most underrated original series. The ’80s-set coming-of-age show follows college student and wannabe filmmaker David Meyers (Craig Roberts) who gets a summer job working at a local country club as he tries to figure out his future. While working there, he meets and falls in love with Skye (Alexandra Socha), the daughter of the club president Doug Getty (Paul Reiser), a Wall Street crook with a heart of gold. Meanwhile, his parents (Richard Kind and Jennifer Grey) slowly drift apart and discover new things about themselves in middle age; his intelligent stoner friend Wheeler (Oliver Cooper) woos the out-of-his-league lifeguard Misty (Alexandra Turshen); and various forces constantly threaten the cherished Red Oaks club.

On the surface, Red Oaks might seem like merely a fun trifle, but co-creators Gregory Jacobs (Magic Mike XXL) and Joe Gangemi never rested on the twin laurels of period nostalgia or superficial pleasures. Instead, they crafted a sweet, perceptive comedy-drama about trying to outrun time and circumstance, the terror of adapting to change, and the bone-deep fear of not living up to one’s potential. It went down like comfort food, but was ultimately more nutritious than advertised. If you missed out on Red Oaks — and you probably have — here are five reasons why it’s worth watching.

It Was So Much More Than an ’80s Homage

Though Red Oaks didn’t satirize or parody classic ’80s comedies, it certainly owes a debt to them. Its Caddyshack-esque premise, the notable appearance of Jennifer Grey in the main cast, and a pilot episode that basked in snobs versus slobs motif suggest a series that would never shift out of a retro gear. Yet Red Oaks never totally fit that mold, even when it indulged in cheap thrills. The way it broke down characters’ stereotypical images — high-school sweetheart, stoner friend, rich girl, repressed parents — neatly encapsulates the series’ belief in not judging a book by its cover.

There are too many examples to name, but a few standouts capture the show’s sensitive heart. Judy, David’s mother, begins the series as a nag, but after separating from her husband, embraces her financial independence as well as her queer identity. Meanwhile, David’s father, Sam, struggles to hold onto control and his antiquated beliefs, but by the end of the series, he adapts and takes his own risks in love and work. David’s high-school girlfriend Karen (Gage Golightly) initially comes across as a domestication-obsessed overplanner, but Jacobs and Gangemi treat her dreams of family and stability as equally valid as David’s filmmaking career. Skye abandons the shackles of her rebellious rich-girl identity, accepting failure and her own limitations in the process. Wheeler gets in touch with his sensitivity to win Misty’s heart rather than leveraging his drugs and boyish behavior. Red Oaks believed that identities are constantly in flux, and that it’s always important to give people an opportunity to showcase their true selves.

Its Truly Great Soundtrack

Obvious needle drops are a frequent problem for period pieces. It’s sometimes just too tempting to use well-known pop songs to signal a time period and to engender cheap nostalgia. From its first season, Red Oaks stood apart just by using ’80s-era music that never felt overly familiar. Music supervisors Gabe Hilfer and Devoe Yates packed the soundtrack with the likes of Blue Shoes, the English Beat, Love and Rockets, and Talk Talk. When they used songs by bigger names, like Roxy Music or New Order in the second season, the moments felt earned and avoided clichés.

The final season continued this trend, giving prominent placement to the Woodentops’ “Give It Time” in the first episode and opening the third with “Knife” by Aztec Camera. Hilfer and Yates even featured David Bowie’s underrated “Day-In Day-Out,” a song that had never appeared on a film or television soundtrack before. They ultimately closed out the series with two key songs: Ringo Starr’s “Photograph” and Lou Reed’s “New Sensation,” to capture the passing of a bygone era and the embrace of a new one. Sometimes good taste and an excellent ear can really make the difference.

It Had a Killer Lineup of Directors

Executive produced by Steven Soderbergh (Logan Lucky) and David Gordon Green (George Washington), Red Oaks has no shortage of talent behind the camera. The series made a point of collaborating with beloved, yet sadly underpraised directors who made their name in the ’80s and ’90s, such as Amy Heckerling (Clueless), Hal Hartley (Henry Fool), and Gregg Araki (The Doom Generation).

While television necessitates an overarching house style, these directors nevertheless managed to place their stamp on their episodes. Heckerling’s episodes either traffic in period immersion (“Body Swap” and “After Hours”) or romance, young and old (“The Bris” and “Independence Day”). In Hartley’s episodes, he brings spark to smaller two-person scenes, like David and Karen rekindling old feelings (“Old Flames”) and David and Skye’s disastrous fight (“The Anniversary”). Araki, meanwhile, tackles bigger comedic set pieces, like a hospital visit following a failed road trip (“Lost and Found”) and a rocky wedding reception (“The Wedding”).

It Was Made by Movie Lovers

Though his filmmaking talents are limited to filming bar mitzvahs and brises, David longs to be a director and see his name in a theater someday. In the meantime, he fashions himself a cinephile, weaned on watching movies with his father and making discoveries on his own. But Jacobs and Gangemi don’t phone in the details or the references: In one episode, David and Skye sneak off to the city and catch a showing of Eric Rohmer’s Claire’s Knee. In another, David meets Skye’s art-film friend who likens her work to Jonas Mekas and a less homoerotic Kenneth Anger. David’s New York apartment in the third season features posters of Dr. Strangelove and Taxi Driver alongside Francois Truffaut’s Day for Night and John Schlesinger’s Sunday Bloody Sunday. His passion for film feels rooted in specificity for its own sake, not to flatter or impress its audience.

It Believed in the Power of First Steps

Red Oaks always contained an existential bent. Whether in lonely suburban streets or dark New York nights, its characters fight to break out of their ruts, overcome the personal and financial obstacles that stand in their way (Red Oaks is perhaps one of the best shows about class struggle to come out this decade), and most of all, not let opportunities pass them by. At the same time, they’re desperately trying to hold onto the good times before they slip through their grasp, worrying that there aren’t that many left.

But the series also understand how a small leap of faith can lead to new beginnings. By the end of the series, David accepts that his parents are different people with their own flourishing lives, and that the friends and former lovers who dominated his young life will eventually drift away. It ends on David’s first major professional accomplishment: directing a dog food commercial, a major step up from his previous gigs. Hey, Francis Ford Coppola started out in soft-core, so maybe this is his break. Maybe it’s just another sidestep. Either way, it’s a step in the right direction, and Red Oaks never undersold its importance.

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Re: Now Watching...

#253 Post by creep » Sun Nov 12, 2017 6:11 pm

Artemis wrote: I'm currently watching Riverdale and loving it. It's the dark, teen show based on the Archie comics. It started a few weeks ago, episode 4 this week. Luke Perry(90210 Dylan) plays Archie's dad. :lol:

I just watched season 1. I'm not sure I was supposed to like it since I am an old man but I thought it was pretty good. I didn't know about the Archie comic thing going in and then I noticed that there is an Archie, Veronica, Betty, Jughead, Josie and the Pussycats...etc. If I would have known this going in I probably would not have watched it. Glad I didn't know it.

Need a new series...I think I am going to start Better Things.

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Re: Now Watching...

#254 Post by Artemis » Mon Nov 13, 2017 5:58 am

creep wrote:
Need a new series...I think I am going to start Better Things.

Better Things is pretty good...been watching.


I recently started watching White Famous. It's on Showtime..


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Re: Now Watching...

#255 Post by blackula » Mon Nov 13, 2017 9:36 pm

creep wrote:
Pandemonium wrote:
perkana wrote:Just finished first season of "Mindhunter" on Netflix. I highly recommend it :thumb:
I've been watching 2 EPs per night the last couple days. Best show I've watched in a few years, highly recommended.
I just finished it. It was pretty good. I would give it a B-.

Thanks for the recommendation. :wave:
Thanks to this thread I’m 1/2 way through Mindhunter. Each episode gets better, looking forward to finishing.

Stranger Things 2 was cool. Not great but good.

I liked Vice Principals a lot. Not as good as East Bound but very entertaining. Walter Goggins was cool in it and Danny McBride always cracks me up.

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Re: Now Watching...

#256 Post by nausearockpig » Tue Nov 14, 2017 12:56 am

creep wrote:
Artemis wrote: I'm currently watching Riverdale and loving it. It's the dark, teen show based on the Archie comics. It started a few weeks ago, episode 4 this week. Luke Perry(90210 Dylan) plays Archie's dad. :lol:

I just watched season 1. I'm not sure I was supposed to like it since I am an old man but I thought it was pretty good. I didn't know about the Archie comic thing going in and then I noticed that there is an Archie, Veronica, Betty, Jughead, Josie and the Pussycats...etc. If I would have known this going in I probably would not have watched it. Glad I didn't know it.

Need a new series...I think I am going to start Better Things.
my wife is hooked on Riverdale.

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Re: Now Watching...

#257 Post by perkana » Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:29 pm

I am not a fan of Jessica Biel as an actress, but her new Netflix show was very good. Bill Pullman plays a detective.

Also watched recently "Alias Grace". Watched it in a day...

If you feel bored one day, I would recommend "The day I met El Chapo". I don't believe the actress for a second (I don't think she was too naive, she just seized the opportunity to do a documentary/film about El Chapo), but I was just curious to listen to her side of the story).
Last edited by perkana on Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:36 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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Re: Now Watching...

#258 Post by perkana » Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:32 pm

blackula wrote:
Stranger Things 2 was cool. Not great but good.

I liked Vice Principals a lot. Not as good as East Bound but very entertaining. Walter Goggins was cool in it and Danny McBride always cracks me up.
I didn't think ST2 was great either. It was fun to watch, but there wasn't anything new about it.
I really need to watch VP soon. It's on my list.

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Re: Now Watching...

#259 Post by creep » Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:33 pm

perkana wrote: If you feel bored one day, I would recommend "The day I met El Chapo". I don't believe the actress for a second (I don't think she was too naive, she just seized the opportunity to do a documentary/film about El Chapo), but I was just curious to listen to her side of the story.
I thought it was pretty interesting. Sean Penn better watch his back. :scared:

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Re: Now Watching...

#260 Post by perkana » Tue Nov 14, 2017 6:39 pm

Sean Penn really fucked it up. I thought she was lucky not getting killed by El Chapo's people.

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Re: Now Watching...

#261 Post by creep » Thu Nov 23, 2017 4:32 pm

I'm two episodes in on Godless on Netflix. I think it's great but I love shit like this. Anyone else watching it? You should. Jeff Daniels is really good in it.


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Re: Now Watching...

#262 Post by Hype » Fri Nov 24, 2017 8:34 am

I binged 'Atypical'. I liked it, but something about it was bugging me. There was a review that kind of hit it on the head: this isn't *really* a show about autism. It's a show about a decent-looking kid portraying an awkward teen with high-functioning autism (basically Asperger's, though I think this case is a bit more pronounced than that), and his somewhat fucked up family. There are no serious attempts to show characters with more serious forms of autism.

The sub-plot with the mother and the bartender irritated me, but I guess I understand why they felt they needed that in the show (still, it feels a little bit too cartoonish/Nurse Jackie-ish).

I've always liked Michael Rappaport. His character is great. A lot of the others seem a bit too shallow -- they're playing archetypes rather than actual people.

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Re: Now Watching...

#263 Post by SR » Sat Nov 25, 2017 7:48 am

[quote
I've always liked Michael Rappaport.[/quote]Confusing. How? As an marginal actor? As a time filler loud mouth guy on sports/live shows like The View/Good Morning America, ESPN NY baseball shows or in this show as the confused victimized husband/contrite former shitty abandoning husband?

I see your point about the show in general, though I enjoyed the show; it's not Shakespeare, but I thought the choice of MR as the sympathetic character in terms of casting was weak.....though even for him, he over delivered :lol: :lol:

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Re: Now Watching...

#264 Post by Hype » Sun Nov 26, 2017 1:27 pm

SR wrote:
I've always liked Michael Rappaport.
Confusing. How? As an marginal actor? As a time filler loud mouth guy on sports/live shows like The View/Good Morning America, ESPN NY baseball shows or in this show as the confused victimized husband/contrite former shitty abandoning husband?

I see your point about the show in general, though I enjoyed the show; it's not Shakespeare, but I thought the choice of MR as the sympathetic character in terms of casting was weak.....though even for him, he over delivered :lol: :lol:
I liked him on Boston Public. Actually, I liked Fyvush Finkel a lot more. Probably it's just that the rest of the actors are mediocre. :lol: Also I added too many Ps in his name. :scared:

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Re: Now Watching...

#265 Post by SR » Tue Nov 28, 2017 9:24 am

Ya know, not so fair on my part. Come to think of it, I can't recall ever seeing him act in anything else....but he's ubiquitous in tons of sports shows for some reason as a "regular guy" talking head. I've have even seen him recently railing against trump which I had to turn immediately off.....he's always the loud mouth pipe fitter guys type who's proud he read the cliff notes and cheated on the math tests to get by in hs to pass kind of guy I can't stand type.

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Re: Now Watching...

#266 Post by wally » Tue Nov 28, 2017 12:56 pm

big mouth on netflix is hilarious

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Re: Now Watching...

#267 Post by Juana » Fri Dec 01, 2017 1:50 am

creep wrote:I'm two episodes in on Godless on Netflix. I think it's great but I love shit like this. Anyone else watching it? You should. Jeff Daniels is really good in it.

This is next up on the list I just rewatched Punisher, and the better half wants to finish Frontier's new season first.

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Re: Now Watching...

#268 Post by Artemis » Sun Feb 18, 2018 7:27 pm

Anybody watching Counterpart?

I think it's pretty good. Sunday night on Starz.




http://www.denofgeek.com/us/tv/counterp ... oiler-free

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Re: Now Watching...

#269 Post by creep » Sun Mar 25, 2018 8:22 pm

I liked the first episode of Barry on HBO.


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Re: Now Watching...

#270 Post by creep » Thu Mar 29, 2018 8:43 pm

Wild Wild Country on Netflix was really interesting. Being in a cult looks fun for a while but something bad usually happens in the end.

The first episode is a little slow but then it gets good.


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Re: Now Watching...

#271 Post by Artemis » Tue May 01, 2018 12:09 pm

Killing Eve is pretty good. It's on BBC America on Sundays at 8pm

"A security operative hunts for an assassin. Based on the Villanelle novellas by Luke Jennings."





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Re: Now Watching...

#272 Post by chaos » Thu May 03, 2018 10:06 am

Artemis wrote:Killing Eve is pretty good. It's on BBC America on Sundays at 8pm

"A security operative hunts for an assassin. Based on the Villanelle novellas by Luke Jennings."





I binged this show. It's decadently quirky. I think the actress who plays the assassin, Jodie Comer, is great. I've seen her in only one other role: Ivy, in the BBC mini series Thirteen.

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Re: Now Watching...

#273 Post by Artemis » Thu May 03, 2018 11:28 am

chaos wrote:

I binged this show. It's decadently quirky. I think the actress who plays the assassin, Jodie Comer, is great. I've seen her in only one other role: Ivy, in the BBC mini series Thirteen.
Yes, Jodie Comer is really good. I first saw her in the show My Mad Fat Diary.



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Re: Now Watching...

#274 Post by clickie » Mon May 07, 2018 3:23 am

This new show coming out soon has a lot of hype behind it.




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Re: Now Watching...

#275 Post by creep » Sat May 12, 2018 6:35 pm

Evil Genius is a really interesting 4 part documentary on Netflix about a crazy bank robbery and a few murders. Check it out. :thumb:


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