After watching The Blacklist for weeks (it’s on before Law and Order) I finally have an insight
It’s Archer, except it’s not supposed to be a joke
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W. Kamau Bell is awesome…
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I watched this with Mrs. F a couple weeks ago and thought it was okay. I second the great casting, also the implausibility. A couple things really bothered me-
- The dancer that was introduced on a vanishingly thin pretense, given a skeletal hooker-with-a-heart-of-gold backstory, then horribly murdered so the audience could learn that the Broadway Babies Murder Squad and Solid Gold Dance Revue is WICKED sadistic and crazy. They dumped her body and she vanished from the story without a ripple; the whole thing felt unnecessary and manipulative. If I want that kind of misogyny (I don’t), I’ll watch Criminal Minds (I won’t).
- Everything else about the Broadway Babies Murder Squad and Solid Gold Dance Revue. I’ve read a few Harlan Coben books and sadistic murder-for-hire teams is kind of a signature of his (see Gone for Good, ick). In an otherwise we’ll-acted procedural the characters were out of place and over the top. Personally, I suspect the writers from CSI Miami sneaked a few pages into the duplicating room during production.
While I’m here, I suggest avoiding the German police procedural Perfume, which Netflix recommended because I watched Stay Close. Perfume is a loose retelling of the Patrick Süskind novel by the same name, which probably should have tipped me off about what I was getting into. I haven’t watched much German television, but it apparently takes a different line than American television with respect to depictions of adolescent nudity and sex; I’ll admit to being moderately shocked and put off at several points. Perfume features a lot of sexual violence (some of it between underage characters), a child murder, and a genuinely horrifying plot point in episode four. Taken altogether, it’s a mean story about awful people. I only reached the end by fast forwarding through the last three episodes. Honestly, I’m not sure why I stuck with it; I suppose I was hoping for a satisfying resolution after all the abuse. I should have known better. Now I’m stuck with it in my brain.
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I completely agree about Stay Close, and I especially hated those two off-key, totes implausible characters for the same reasons you spelled out so well. It was great to see Eddie Izzard, and I liked his character, so it was upsetting when they got to him too. At least the worst of their sadism was only implied.
Still worth watching for me, but nowhere near the greatest stuff out there. The love plot with the jaded cop and the bar manager was pretty intriguing, and the actor did an awesome job conveying his stunned heartbreak in their final scene. Great to see a black woman as the lead character in such a mainstream production, although the fact of her and her family’s blackness, and all that would actually still mean in terms of racism, got pretty much completely glossed over.
Thanks for the warning away from Perfume!
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Really enjoyed this and i have to say i liked it a lot more than The Shape of Water so it’s disappointing to see it’s tanking at the cinema. Maybe because it’s bleak? It really is bleak! Looks absolutely fantastic as well, the set design is superb.
What i would say is absolutely do not watch Bradley Cooper’s interview on Stephen Colbert’s show because it’ll spoil the film for you, i didn’t realise this at the time but while watching the film it dawned on me i knew what the ending was going to be because of this. Dumb of whoever made that decision.
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I don’t know why this is on TV right now, and I can’t really say it’s “good,” but it’s not the worst movie ever made
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The show just won’t be the same without Damian Lewis, but I’ll still watch for Paul Giamatti and Asia Kate Dillon.
Just watched the ending of the new DUNE on VHS. The ending is a little different than the theatrical release.
/s
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I wish upon a star it is good.
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@anon61221983 I was looking for a witty response to your Orlando Jones gif and ran accross this article about his firing:
I had no idea that they fired him for “reasons”. Wow.
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Oh yeah… it was a whole thing. Very depressing, as he was one of the best parts of the show…
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Agreed. He added a peculiar patina of darkness to the back story.
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Martin Freeman is so good in this but christ, it’s bleak. Be warned.
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Discovered The Durrells in Corfu last night. Looks great, loved the pilot. I am a sucker for a period British drama.
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wonderful! I absolutely loved Durrells!
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not sure if anyone has mention The Great, a Hulu series about* Catherine the Great (*the tagline to the show is “a sometimes true story”) and her trials with husband Peter (the not so great) and her trying to reform Russia.
bawdy, raunchy and absolutely hilarious throughout!
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You had me at bawdy
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It’s like the Doctor Who fandom version of Qanon, waiting faithfully for JFK Jr David Tennant to reappear from the clouds
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