Gentleman's Compendium Of The Visual Arts (AKA Television and Films)

chewed

I started watching Better Call Saul recently. I'm loving it and each episode gets better and better. If you loved Breaking Bad then you'll definitely love this as well.

Hazys

Just watched the 6 part HBO documentary "The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst". Its fantastic and scary, can't really say much as i don't want to spoil it.

Don't Google it as its currently a big news story and would be full of spoilers.

Mallagio

House of Cards on Netflix is just an outstanding piece of TV drama.

Pawwed Rig

Season 1 & 2 yes. Season 3 was a huge disappointment.

Started Generation War tonight. Watched the first half of episode 1. looks good so far so cheers lads

Aidric

Anyone watched 'The Americans' yet? Been reading some good feedback on twitter about it.

FunLover18

Aidric wrote: »

Anyone watched 'The Americans' yet? Been reading some good feedback on twitter about it.

It's brilliant. Very underrated, the cast is great and the writing is very tight. I haven't seen 3 yet as I'm on RTE speed but I love it. A very rare show in that I actually look forward to it every week (when it's on).

Lithium93_

I've started watching Gotham on the recommendation of a friend, (who said it's a good introduction to Batman), my question is to anyone who watches it, is it worth sticking with? Does it get better as it goes on?

D'Agger

Lithium93_ wrote: »

I've started watching Gotham on the recommendation of a friend, (who said it's a good introduction to Batman), my question is to anyone who watches it, is it worth sticking with? Does it get better as it goes on?

Heard mixed reports tbh - one or two saying it was poor, another one or two saying it was quite good.

I saw two brief scenes of it recently and I thought it looked good, at a glance though.

Just watched Generation War episode 1, very, very good, won't be long watching the other two, would do it tonight but I've to catch some rest!

mass_debater

Lithium93_ wrote: »

I've started watching Gotham on the recommendation of a friend, (who said it's a good introduction to Batman), my question is to anyone who watches it, is it worth sticking with? Does it get better as it goes on?

I watched first season, it starts off very strong but never peaks, but there is plenty there to develop in further seasons.

The Black Oil

Aidric wrote: »

Anyone watched 'The Americans' yet? Been reading some good feedback on twitter about it.

Yes. It's very good. You might have to stick with it a little in the first half of season 1, but overall, it's an excellent show. Season 2 is stronger and strikes a real balance between: character development, plot momentum and the web of lies pretty much everyone is telling. Season 3 is coming along nicely, too. It's a very understated show. It's my favourite show from the past few years, more so than Hannibal.

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Started Generation War tonight. Watched the first half of episode 1. looks good so far so cheers lads

Thought you were about to start The Sopranos? :P Enjoy GW, it's very good.

JaseBelleVie

I'm loving Gotham to be honest. It is not really akin to any Batman film/tv-series that has ever been released, most probably because in this one, Batman is still just a kid! Instead, we get to see the genesis of the Rogue's Gallery and the central character is future-Commissioner Gordon. It is more of a police procedural/crime drama with some dark comedy thrown in, rather than a Batman series, to be honest.

It is correct to say that it never really "peaks"; there is a new case every week, but there is that underlying story-arc of Bruce starting his "training" and the gangsters stabbing each other in every back they can find.

It is very good, I'm really enjoying it.


I'm also going to start The Americans after that, because I've heard nothing but good things so far!

cson

Any opinions on Entourage folks? Thinking of picking up the box set.

Liam McPoyle

Good enough.

I downloaded it all a couple of years back and binged on it.

Very easy to get through as each episode is around 23 minutes long, I wouldn't watch it again though.

FunLover18

cson wrote:

Any opinions on Entourage folks? Thinking of picking up the box set.

I hated every single character. Never got past the first 2 episodes.

D'Agger

cson wrote: »

Any opinions on Entourage folks? Thinking of picking up the box set.

Loved it in college & would recommend giving it a go for sure but the last two seasons were well below par in comparison with the rest of the series

Pawwed Rig

Epic call on Generation War. Best thing I have seen this year. I owe someone a pint for that.

D'Agger

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Epic call on Generation War. Best thing I have seen this year. I owe someone a pint for that.

Yup watched it this weekend - great viewing

JaseBelleVie

Brilliant mini-series. One of the best things I have seen. Caused a lot of stir, because the main characters were in the Wehrmarcht and we're meant to feel sympathy for them, but still doesn't take away from the fact that it is a stunning piece of television.

Liam McPoyle

I'm 2/3 through House of Cards season 3.

I'd heard a lot of people give out about it but I'm really enjoying it.

While there isn't as much treachery as previous seasons (he is now the president after all so obviously he couldn't get away with the same level of shenanigans) the character development is a really nice change of pace.

Aidric

FunLover18 wrote: »

It's brilliant. Very underrated, the cast is great and the writing is very tight. I haven't seen 3 yet as I'm on RTE speed but I love it. A very rare show in that I actually look forward to it every week (when it's on).

The Black Oil wrote: »

Yes. It's very good. You might have to stick with it a little in the first half of season 1, but overall, it's an excellent show. Season 2 is stronger and strikes a real balance between: character development, plot momentum and the web of lies pretty much everyone is telling. Season 3 is coming along nicely, too. It's a very understated show. It's my favourite show from the past few years, more so than Hannibal.

I watched the pilot on Sunday and loved it. So much so that I ordered the first 2 seasons from Amazon. Hoping it will reach me in time for the lone weekend.

Liam McPoyle

DLing Generation War based on recommendations here, Id never heard of it.

The Black Oil

I did really like Generation War. Funny thing, as I said in my post in Television, some of the reviews seemed a little out of whack with what I felt I watched, though. AV Club called it self-pitying, The Guardian not much better. It was not perfect, and granted, it's not Downfall, but does it need to be? No, imo. I didn't feel sorry for Germany or Germans of that era in watching it. It didn't hide the anti-semitism. It didn't hide some of the ugly elements of war. It's not just the soldiers on the battlefield cover in muck. There was significant personal cost for all of them.

More stories from the European theatre and perspective, please.

Mallagio

Business Cat wrote: »

I'm 2/3 through House of Cards season 3.

I'd heard a lot of people give out about it but I'm really enjoying it.

While there isn't as much treachery as previous seasons (he is now the president after all so obviously he couldn't get away with the same level of shenanigans) the character development is a really nice change of pace.

Bought a soundbar as a treat for me & her to enjoy this series, as like you I'm enjoying it immensely.

The Black Oil

What do you notice with a sound bar (in general, not HoC), out of interest?

Mallagio

The Black Oil wrote: »

What do you notice with a sound bar (in general, not HoC), out of interest?

Exceptional sound and quality, really full sound in the room even when low.

Clarity is amazing

boobar

cson wrote: »

Any opinions on Entourage folks? Thinking of picking up the box set.

Watched every episode...really enjoyed it. Ari Gold was the most entertaining character in my view.

I don't know how much the box set is..maybe it's available on Sky Box sets.

A great show in my view.

boobar

Business Cat wrote: »

I'm 2/3 through House of Cards season 3.

I'd heard a lot of people give out about it but I'm really enjoying it.

While there isn't as much treachery as previous seasons (he is now the president after all so obviously he couldn't get away with the same level of shenanigans) the character development is a really nice change of pace.

Just finished Season 1....Kevin Spacey is brilliant, a really treacherous manipulative self centred toe rag.

Robin Wright is excellent too...two great actors.

mass_debater

Broadchurch, I'm on episode 8 of season 2. Season one is very good but season 2 is amazing drama so far

JaseBelleVie

Last night, I saw Coalition, a Channel 4 docu-drama that was first aired back in March. It concerns the 2010 British General Election and the fallout that existed thereafter.

I really enjoyed it and I thought it was really well done. The actors playing the "Big Three" (Gordon Brown, David Cameron and Nick Clegg) were excellent and at times you forgot that you were watching actors and not watching footage of the three. I think George Osbourne (played brilliantly by Sebastian Armesto) got a bit of a rough deal. He comes across as so reptilian, Machievellian and scheming. Maybe it's true to life, but I don't think George would be thrilled at his portrayal.

The highs and lows of the three parties before and after the election are really well portrayed. Both Clegg and Cameron are glued to their televisions, watching intently as the exit-polls come in. By contrast, Brown is depicted in bed, snoring away. Both the Conservatives and the Lib-Dems thought they would be the next leaders, while Labour thought they were finished. The horror for the Tories and the Lib-Dems when they both underperformed and the elation for Labour when they actually did better than they thought is brilliantly portrayed.

The power plays, the horse-trading, the negotiations, the back-stabbing, the betrayals. It's all here. With nobody having a majority, the prospects of minority governments, coalitions and chaos loomed large.

While we all know how it eventually turns out (similar to here, where a centre-left party got into bed with a centre-right party; and the centre-left party ends up getting absolutely annihilated in mid-term elections and in the polls), it is brilliant to see how it all panned out behind the scenes.

I remember being in England back in May of 2010, and being on the ground for when all this stuff was going on. I didn't fully comprehend how staggering such a situation was to the British people. Here in Ireland, coalition governments and "hung-Dáil" are regular occurrences (the last time we had an overall majority Government here was in 1977). But over there, this was almost unheard of. It was always one of the Big Two that took power. The idea of a coalition and of minority governments was anathema. However, it happened.

This is well worth tracking down and it is quite brilliant.

Pawwed Rig

Ha I remember Enda Kenny coming out with something like 'if the UK parties want any advice on working in coalition they should ask us'.
I think the general feeling was 'eh we're ok thanks'.