Really not sure how i feel about this. Part of me wishes that the producers would stop looking back at past glories and focus on something new* (like Discovery is finally doing) but another part of me does want to see what has become of the station.
*Just a thought but maybe explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations… 
The remastered version has been getting a limited showing on the big screen so while i’m in two minds about sharing a cinema with others (albeit spaced out and masked-up) i had to go see it in one of the few picture houses still open these days. Having never seen it on the big screen before i was blown away all over again, it’s still an extraordinary piece of work to this day.
So, so angry about this…
This would be perfect for Netflix or Prime to pick up.
Though they’ll have to tighten up their production schedule.
I want to find out about Grover Cleveland’s Time Machine!
I don’t think it ever had enough of an audience to be interesting for Netflix unfortunately.
Speaking of things in that vein: has anyone here seen John Hodgman’s and David Rees’ Dicktown?
I haven’t been able to watch it yet as it’s not possible to watch outside the US but having followed the work of those two for over a decade I’m certain it’s great.
Great, now the title of one of my faves has an association that I want to forget:
C’mon, CDC…Close Encounters was right there (and already scary), but nooooo!. Now I have to rewatch for a serious dose of mind bleach and Rachmaninoff. Here’s a modern trailer for those who have never seen this classic film:
I have to admit that, as silly as the show was, I ended up learning a bit about Viking society from it. For example I learned about what a “Thing” is, because in one episode the characters are talking about their plans and casualty say something to the effect of “oh yeah, we’ve got to go head over do the the thing later…” and then it was eventually made clear that they literally meant Thing.
I also enjoy their accents, and learning that the episodes were filmed both in English and in Norwegian using the same actors and filming each scene back-to-back.
Could just be me, but I sighed through the last 5 episodes of season one, wanting it to be over with. The idea had a lot of potential, and there are a couple of good characters, but I kinda doubt there will be a season 2. If there is, I probably won’t watch it. On a scale of Marvelness I’d rank it below Iron Fist.
It should have been the Chris Yen Show, featuring Ana Helstrom.
Close Encounters of the Covid Kind?
So I started watching Barbarians on Netflix. It’s very clearly an attempt to produce a German competitor to Vikings, based on the Arminius/Varus story. Now that alone is a bit problematic of course because that story was so influential in 19th and early 20th century nationalist myth making. Shades of Wacht am Rhein and Hermannsdenkmal. But eh, I can live with that, as long as it doesn’t try to be some sort of obvious metaphor against the evil French or something, which so far it doesn’t seem to try to be.
More concerning is the quality of storyline and acting. The former, after having seen the first episode, is bland but not horrible. The big twist at the end of the first episode was telegraphed so far ahead, though, that it certainly didn’t have the desired impact on me. The acting,…, well, there’s your problem. I don’t know how it is in the dubbed version (and there is an English dub) but the original German has that quality of German TV acting with drama school pretensions that I have been complaining about several times in this thread. In addition to that the romantic subplot, especially the way the two protagonists speak with each other, has the quality of a low tier Til Schweiger movie. Those barbarians in the woods exchange cutsie dialogue as if they were a hipster couple spending a lazy Sunday morning in their Berlin Altbau apartment before heading off to brunch with their artisanal butcher friends.
You’ll notice I haven’t talked at all about the authenticity of the history or the material culture. That’s because it’s hardly worth talking about. Obviously it’s made up, and very, very loosely based on the turn of the millennium conquest of Germany as related by Roman sources. The material culture of both Romans and Germans is loosely based on some well known finds (among them of course the cavalry mask helmet of Kalkriese, Thorsberg textiles, etc. I won’t bore you with an exhaustive list) sprinkled among what set designers think looks old, even if it is completely off.
So should you watch it? I find it tough going but not as tough as Vikings, because this one has never pretended to be historically accurate.
I’ve been watching Norsemen, and decided to save a few episodes as a chaser after Vikings ends in December/January. Too many major characters are gone for me to really care much beyond wondering how they plan to end it. I also have The Last Kingdom on my list, so from what you’ve said that might be a better option to watch next.
The last Kingdom is definitely more enjoyable than those other options (excluding Norsemen of course).
But don’t listen to my criticism too much. My standards for historical TV and movies are very (some would say unfairly) high.
Anybody watching The Queen’s Gambit? I’ve watched the first two episodes and so far I’ve spent most of it wondering how they got over the opioid crisis of the 50s/60s.
Finally getting around to Picard… Most excellent!
So over a year and a half later, I watched the sequel to the Craft - the Craft, Legacy.
While my prediction was correct, and no one came even close to holding a candle to Nancy Dowds, it wasn’t a terrible effort.
They even managed to dovetail this new story back in with the original film, so I wasn’t mad.
3 out of 5 stars, would recco; just as long as one’s expectations are not too high going into it.
