Amazon Prime Film/TV Series Recommendations

Mr.Nice Guy · 28-03-2021 3:52pm

I watched Aquaman. Despite being two and a half hours or so, I came away from it feeling I didn't really know the main character, besides that he loves his dad.

Superman deals with the Krypton back story much better than this movie managed with Atlantis. It feels like they tried to cram in so much information about the world and kingdoms that they forgot about the characters. I think the Black Manta arc could have been left out of this as well.

I liked Momoa as the lead and the back and forth with Amber Heard. I would have enjoyed seeing more of that. The CGI at the end was far too much for my taste too. The humour isn't there, even though Momoa tries his best.

I'd give it a 5/10 overall.

brevity · 28-03-2021 3:59pm

Started watching NOS4A2. Three episodes in, not sure what to make of it really...

pixelburp · 28-03-2021 4:02pm

Mr.Nice Guy wrote: »

I watched Aquaman. Despite being two and a half hours or so, I came away from it feeling I didn't really know the main character, besides that he loves his dad.

Superman deals with the Krypton back story much better than this movie managed with Atlantis. It feels like they tried to cram in so much information about the world and kingdoms that they forgot about the characters. I think the Black Manta arc could have been left out of this as well.

I liked Momoa as the lead and the back and forth with Amber Heard. I would have enjoyed seeing more of that. The CGI at the end was far too much for my taste too. The humour isn't there, even though Momoa tries his best.

I'd give it a 5/10 overall.

The way every dialogue/exposition scene was punctuated with a sudden explosion became an especially hilarious eccentricity of the film. Can remember very little apart from that (beyond an admittedly effective horror scene on a boat at night), and still makes me chuckle. Really spoke to a clue the director presumed its audience were idiots.

Full_Circle_81 · 29-03-2021 4:43pm

brevity wrote: »

Started watching NOS4A2. Three episodes in, not sure what to make of it really...

I really wanted to like it, but gave up after a handful of episodes. I'll eventually get around to reading the book.

OhDazoona · 29-03-2021 10:36pm

I can thoroughly recommend Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus series which is available on UK TV Play. Gritty, real, believable and not gory.

Mehaffey1 · 29-03-2021 11:20pm

OhDazoona wrote: »

I can thoroughly recommend Ian Rankin's Inspector Rebus series which is available on UK TV Play. Gritty, real, believable and not gory.

Loved the show and the books are great as well. Shame they won't be making anymore, John Stott hardly seemed like he was acting as he played the role of Rebus so well.

Pen Rua · 30-03-2021 9:12am

We are after finishing The Night Manager, a series aired on BBC in 2016.

We have a stared studded cast of Tom Hiddleston, Hugh Laurie and Olivia Coleman (who happened to be pregnant during filming, so they had to work that into the plot!). Other cast include Coleman's The Crown co-star Tobias Menzies, David Harewood (of Homeland) & the stunning Elizabeth Debicki.

Laurie plays a corrupt businessman involved in arms trading. Coleman heads up a tiny enforcement agency, and has a long history of trying to track down Laurie. Hiddleston comes into play as an agent for Coleman, and away we go. Curiously, Debicki plays a very similar role to Tenant - the partner to the bad guy. There are a lot of parallels if you've seen both.

6 episodes is just right in my opinion. Indeed, it could have been tighter and just have been 5. Interestingly, some comments I read after said it could have done with 10! The pacing is relatively even, with tension constantly rising and falling as we go.

Laurie was good at playing the baddie, which is a role I've not seen him in before. Hiddleston was good, but one could comment his performance is a little single tone at times - a smoldering smile to ween his way out of a problem. Coleman is solid.

Now, there are some discrepancies and weaknesses in the story, but I would suggest that could be down to it being a TV show adapted from a book. While the general consensus on the adaptation seems positive, there does seem to be an equal consensus that the end is quite different.

Overall, this is a solid watch. 6 hours of television is a good length for something to watch in-between a more meatier series.

jill_valentine · 30-03-2021 10:32am

I found Night Manager weird because it wanted me to be interested in all the tall beautiful people drinking wine fearfully, but I found myself much more compelled by the pen pushers back home in the ****ty office trying to negotiate the bureaucracy network to get something done in time.

I am desperately afraid that might be a product of encroaching middle age rather than the show though.

Pen Rua · 30-03-2021 11:36am

jill_valentine wrote: »

I found Night Manager weird because it wanted me to be interested in all the tall beautiful people drinking wine fearfully, but I found myself much more compelled by the pen pushers back home in the ****ty office trying to negotiate the bureaucracy network to get something done in time.

I am desperately afraid that might be a product of encroaching middle age rather than the show though.

I suppose in that sense, we could have done with snipping an episode and moving that time to those characters - agreed. We got very little screen time with all of them.

Mickeroo · 30-03-2021 11:41am

Hadn't realised this was going straight to amazon, supposed to be out later this week:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WJSjln30BQ

pixelburp · 30-03-2021 12:04pm

I have never managed to buy into Cumberbatch's American accents; they're always too croaky, projected... something. Always feels like the kind of generic accent I'd do if I had to play a yank.

EltonJohn69 · 31-03-2021 9:47am

pixelburp wrote: »

I have never managed to buy into Cumberbatch's American accents; they're always too croaky, projected... something. Always feels like the kind of generic accent I'd do if I had to play a yank.

100% agreed. He was like that in BLACK Mass as well.

Wrongway1985 · 31-03-2021 10:40am

Mickeroo wrote: »

Hadn't realised this was going straight to amazon, supposed to be out later this week

Tomorrow, few other award nominated stuff coming in April...Palm Springs on the 9th and finally Sound of Metal confirmed for the 12th seemingly.

Believe Wonder Woman leaving the platform soon to be replaced by Shazam for the comic book movie enthusiasts.

Michael B Jordan led movie based on a Tom Clancy novel at the very end of the month. A horror series called Them and Aidan Turner playing Leonardo Da Vinci in a series based on the famous artist also due to land in April.

The Raging Bile Duct · 31-03-2021 10:42am

Shazam is probably my favourite of the recent superhero movies. A great mix of Superman and Big.

S.M.B. · 31-03-2021 11:00am

Wrongway1985 wrote: »

... few other award nominated stuff coming in April...Palm Springs on the 9th.

Knew this and was counting down the days.

Wrongway1985 wrote: »

... and finally Sound of Metal confirmed for the 12th seemingly.

Did not know this, great news. Assumed it was going to arrive at some stage but nice to see a confirmed date.

S.M.B. · 01-04-2021 9:32pm

And The Dissident just arrived today. I thought all the major streaming platforms were keeping their distance from this documentary but delighted to see it's now on Prime.

killbillvol2 · 01-04-2021 11:27pm

S.M.B. wrote: »

And The Dissident just arrived today. I thought all the major streaming platforms were keeping their distance from this documentary but delighted to see it's now on Prime.

Given that Bezos owns the Washington Post it's hardly surprising it's there.

hold my beer · 02-04-2021 1:16am

I watched the first episode of Animal Kingdom the other night and it was brutal. Terrible acting

2smiggy · 02-04-2021 3:40pm

hold my beer wrote: »

I watched the first episode of Animal Kingdom the other night and it was brutal. Terrible acting

ya I thought that too. it grows on you thou. easy watching !!

Pen Rua · 03-04-2021 8:51am

The Gentlemen (2020/2019, depending on your information source!) stars Matthew McConaughey, Hugh Grant and Charlie Hunnam. Colin Farrell makes an appearance, as does Michelle Dockery & Henry Golding.

Really mixed feelings about this one. Caveat is that the only Ritchie films I've seen prior to this is his Aladdin remake (!) and The Man from UNCLE.

The film follows a US-born drug barron looking to sell his canabis empire. Enter in a disgruntled newspaper editor trying to do an expose hit on him, and the film whisks us away.

On one hand, it was an entertaining film with like comic relief peppered throughout. Farrell in particular, in keeping his Irish accent, has a couple of funny scenes.

On the other, it was overboard on the vulgarity (swearing) to an unnecessary extent. There was a scene which involved two doses of graphic projectile vomit. Gross! This is one of my biggest pet peeves. I cannot stand films / TVs that have unnecessary, gross vomitting scenes. Totally turns me off a film and makes me queasy.

The story wasn't rewarding. There was no major theme, no one to root for (imo). There were some elements of suspense, but they didn't really add up to make up for the lack of decent story.

Throughout the movie, all I could think about was: Hunnam was cast in a role written for Tom Hardy, they couldn't get Hardy so Hunnam did his best Hardy impression instead of playing the character. When I first watched the trailer, I was convinced it was Hardy and not until the opening credits (when his name didn't come up) did I realize.

Overall, a bare 5/10 for me, with an entire -1 for the OTT vomit & vulgarity. Maybe if you are a Ritchie fan, you'll enjoy this. But I've never seen his quintessential films, so I'm not.

Aisling(",) · 03-04-2021 2:34pm

I was watching Black Sails and just noticed its been removed.Does anyone know if its moved to another streaming service?

adrian522 · 03-04-2021 3:37pm

I watched the Mauritanian last night. I thought it was pretty good, Jodie Foster is always good but it does have the feel of a story that has been well told at this stage.

I thought some of the torture scenes weren't great, trying to show the disorienting nature of the experience I guess but didn't really work for me.

Overall a good movie though. Jodie Foster is very good in it. Great to get a lot of the new releases on streaming services over here.

4/5

Charlie19 · 04-04-2021 1:44am

adrian522 wrote: »

I watched the Mauritanian last night. I thought it was pretty good, Jodie Foster is always good but it does have the feel of a story that has been well told at this stage.
I thought some of the torture scenes weren't great, trying to show the disorienting nature of the experience I guess but didn't really work for me.

Overall a good movie though. Jodie Foster is very good in it. Great to get a lot of the new releases on streaming services over here.

4/5

I watched this tonight and thought it was very good.
Cumberbatch done a decent job with the American accent imo.

Wrongway1985 · 04-04-2021 1:17pm

Selection of new titles/re-adds in the last week or so

A Star Is Born (J.Gaynor/F.March)
The Best Man
The Body
Bobby Robson: More Than a Manager
Brick Mansions
The Brood (O.Reed)
Charlie Says
Click (Sandler/Beckinsale)
The Count of Monte Cristo
Danger Lights
The Dissident (Amazon Exclusive)(2020) - BAFTA nominated documentary
Dunkirk
Elvira, Mistress of the Dark
Elysium (M.Damon/J.Foster)
Escape Plan: The Extractors
Goosebumps
The House of Tomorrow
In Search of a Midnight Kiss
Jawbone
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part
Life As We Know It
The Mauritanian (J.Foster/Cumberbatch)(Amazon Original)(2021)
Miracle in Milan (Original Title: Miracolo a Milano)
No Other Love (R.Thomas/Kavner)
Puss in Boots
Red Riding Hood (Seyfried/Oldman)
Rules Don't Apply (L.Collins/Beatty)
Rust Creek
Sausage Party
Seventh Son (J.Bridges/J.Moore)
Shaft (2000)
Shotgun Stories (M.Shannon)
Tammy
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Truman Show
Walking Tall
Wrong Turn
xXx
xXx: State of the Union

The Silence (Bonneville/Kirwan)

Expiring soon(That I'm aware of)

A Star Is Born (Gaga/B.Cooper) - 10/4
Sense and Sensibility - 16/4
State of Play - 17/4

Champagne Sally · 07-04-2021 2:55pm

Does anyone know when Episode 10/Season 5 of This Is Us will be on Prime. It was supposed to be there about 18th March and no sign of it yet though I know it has aired in US. I've googled but can't find anything about it here in Ireland or UK.

Edit: It's ok, I checked with Amazon, there is a known error for this series and those episodes which they are working to fix at the moment. They should be on air soon.

0ph0rce0 · 09-04-2021 7:32pm

Anyone here who had the UK location set for the football and has now been reverted back to the Irish version, did yous have to change anything in the settings after ? Mine stopped and came up saying I was using a VPN, I've turned that off but pretty much everything now comes up not available in your location?

Barely a handful of things I can watch.

gmisk · 09-04-2021 8:09pm

Another excellent episode of invincible this week.
Its a huge amount of fun.

PsychoPete · 09-04-2021 8:49pm

0ph0rce0 wrote: »

Anyone here who had the UK location set for the football and has now been reverted back to the Irish version, did yous have to change anything in the settings after ? Mine stopped and came up saying I was using a VPN, I've turned that off but pretty much everything now comes up not available in your location?

Barely a handful of things I can watch.

I think amazon need to change your account back, easiest thing to do is just contact them on chat

Xaniaj · 09-04-2021 8:57pm

gmisk wrote: »

Another excellent episode of invincible this week.
Its a huge amount of fun.

It really is, one of the best things I've seen this year!

Mickeroo · 09-04-2021 9:22pm

0ph0rce0 wrote: »

Anyone here who had the UK location set for the football and has now been reverted back to the Irish version, did yous have to change anything in the settings after ? Mine stopped and came up saying I was using a VPN, I've turned that off but pretty much everything now comes up not available in your location?

Barely a handful of things I can watch.

When I signed in on a Web browser it asked me to pick my location again, I was able to pick Ireland there and it's been fine since.

Pen Rua · 10-04-2021 9:13am

Went for The Mauritanian (2021) last night, aka The Unpronounceable :pac:.

Zero Dark Thirty meets Dark Waters.

Curiously, Cumberbatch (who co-owns one of the production companies involved), arrived on set for filming in late-2019 horrendously ill (being sick between takes), and on reflection worried he had COVID in its early stages. The same interview also shares that Cumberbatch has been working on this project for years as the producer. Rahim also underwent torture to see how it really felt like for his role. Minor spoilers in the linked interview.

I thought it was a very strong film overall. Tight story, script. Some interesting camera choices / cuts which were a little off-putting. Foster & Rahim were excellent, Cumberbatch was ok (dodgy accent) and Woodley is forgettable.

Given Cumberbatch's production involvement, and at the behest of the director he hired, one can see how he got the role. One would have preferred someone else in that role, imo, with a stronger accent repertoire. That said, the man he plays, Lt. Col. V. Stuart Couch, has quite the arc. One would have appreciated greater insight into his life & background, but, as he is a living person it seems right to refrain.

The film is well paced, but I would suggest it is maybe 20 mins that-bit-too-long.

Torture is featured. But, it is shown in a much more horrific light than Zero Dark Thirty. Some other reviews take a dislike to the "highly stylized" nature of the sequence.

The legal wranglings could have featured more. On reading up afterward, there were significant Supreme Court cases taken that I would have valued being mentioned at the least.

The Wiki-page is not well developed, but I was reading some other articles about Mohamedou Ould Slahi and it seems to stay very close to the truth. Indeed, there's as of yet no articles lambasting the production. Equally, there's no comments as to how close the real people were to it.

For me, it's a 7.5/10. I think the length draws it back, as does Cumberbatch & Woodley's respective performances.

S.M.B. · 10-04-2021 10:22am

Palm Springs is locked in for tonight's viewing. Looking forward to it.

howamidifferent · 10-04-2021 11:34am

The Coming War On China is a great watch. Unbelievable what the USA military is upto.

PsychoPete · 10-04-2021 3:19pm

Anyone watch "Them" yet? Wondering if it's worth a watch

The Raging Bile Duct · 10-04-2021 3:32pm

PsychoPete wrote: »

Anyone watch "Them" yet? Wondering if it's worth a watch

Watched the first episode last night. Great atmosphere in it. Really looking forward to getting stuck into it.

wally1990 · 10-04-2021 11:56pm

The terror season 1
Excellent show

Bowlardo · 11-04-2021 1:01am

palm springs is great. Watch it
Spin on ground day with the guy from Brooklyn nine nine.
Very good cast... low budget ... funny

gmisk · 11-04-2021 10:00am

Sound of metal (multiple oscar noms) due to be added tomorrow.

11-04-2021 10:42am

gmisk wrote: »

Sound of metal (multiple oscar noms) due to be added tomorrow.

Dying to see this

Sugarlumps · 11-04-2021 11:27am

gmisk wrote: »

Sound of metal (multiple oscar noms) due to be added tomorrow.

Wow that looks absolute garbage.

PsychoPete · 11-04-2021 11:39am

Jameson Unimportant Teenager wrote: »

Dying to see this

Glad to see it been added, was one of the films I wanted to see just never got around to it

PsychoPete · 11-04-2021 12:56pm

I watched the first episode of "Them" last night, I really wasn't expecting the episode to ramp up as much as it did near the end but definitely has my interest to watch the rest of the episodes

11-04-2021 1:39pm

Sugarlumps wrote: »

Wow that looks absolute garbage.

It's top notch

gmisk · 11-04-2021 3:44pm

Sugarlumps wrote: »

Wow that looks absolute garbage.

Based on what? The trailer?
All the signs seem to point to the opposite....will be checking out this week anyway

killbillvol2 · 11-04-2021 4:24pm

gmisk wrote: »

Based on what? The trailer?
All the signs seem to point to the opposite....will be checking out this week anyway

Watched it last week. It's really excellent.

Sugarlumps · 12-04-2021 7:58am

gmisk wrote: »

Based on what? The trailer?
All the signs seem to point to the opposite....will be checking out this week anyway

If I understand the premises correctly? This is the part I have trouble with - Drummer loses his hearing, which is entirely down to his own fault, what a martyr. Boo ho. Presumably the chick wears protection, or maybe their dream is to be eternally deaf?

12-04-2021 8:12am

Sugarlumps wrote: »

If I understand the premises correctly? This is the part I have trouble with - Drummer loses his hearing, which is entirely down to his own fault, what a martyr. Boo ho. Presumably the chick wears protection, or maybe their dream is to be eternally deaf?

I shall watch in the next few days. I have no idea how accurate your irrate guesses are but regardless, the best of cinema is about human experience. You don't have to view protagonists to be perfect people or anything... Also guessing a film that is highly regarded is terrible based on a limited blurb, that's pretty silly...

VonLuck · 12-04-2021 8:21am

Sugarlumps wrote: »

If I understand the premises correctly? This is the part I have trouble with - Drummer loses his hearing, which is entirely down to his own fault, what a martyr. Boo ho. Presumably the chick wears protection, or maybe their dream is to be eternally deaf?

What a bizarre thing to get worked up over. I think you'll find that most movies have characters that don't make rational decisions.

The Raging Bile Duct · 12-04-2021 9:28am

Sugarlumps wrote: »

If I understand the premises correctly? This is the part I have trouble with - Drummer loses his hearing, which is entirely down to his own fault, what a martyr. Boo ho. Presumably the chick wears protection, or maybe their dream is to be eternally deaf?

A fair few of my friends (all mid-forties) have hearing loss or tinnitus from loud music and gigs. Protection against hearing loss wasn't thought about, discussed or recommended when we were going to gigs in our late teens through to our late twenties. The first time I saw ear plugs at a gig was when Mogwai use to sell them because they were so loud. Yeah, people messed up their hearing but mainly through ignorance. It's hardly justification for going 'Oh, you lost your hearing? Boo hoo...' It must be horrifying to lose your hearing especially when your entire life is based around it.

I've lost most of my hearing in one ear from repeated infections from a cyst at the opening from my ear into my skull. The repeated infections basically ate away one and a half of the three small bones in my inner ear meaning I don't here any high frequencies in that ear - so if someone is talking to me beside that ear, I know they're talking to me but the lack of higher frequencies means I can't make out what they're saying. Thankfully my other ear can compensate most of the time but losing your hearing blows. Honestly don't know if it's due to loud music but wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Sugarlumps · 12-04-2021 9:50am

The Raging Bile Duct wrote: »

A fair few of my friends (all mid-forties) have hearing loss or tinnitus from loud music and gigs. Protection against hearing loss was thought about, discussed or recommended when we were going to gigs in our late teens through to our late twenties. The first time I saw ear plugs at a gig was when Mogwai use to sell them because they were so loud. Yeah, people messed up their hearing but mainly through ignorance. It's hardly justification for going 'Oh, you lost your hearing? Boo hoo...' It must be horrifying to lose your hearing especially when your entire life is based around it.

I've lost most of my hearing in one ear from repeated infections from a cyst at the opening from my ear into my skull. The repeated infections basically ate away one and a half of the three small bones in my inner ear meaning I don't here any high frequencies in that ear - so if someone is talking to me beside that ear, I know they're talking to me but the lack of higher frequencies means I can't make out what they're saying. Thankfully my other ear can compensate most of the time but losing your hearing blows. Honestly don't know if it's due to loud music but wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Sorry to hear that, really I am. I've played drums for 30 plus years. From metal to punk etc. None of the people in my circle used ear plugs, naivety of being young expecting your hearing to bounce back.

Foam inserts gave off a muffled bass driven sound. Soon as those rubbery types came on the market, it was a game changer. Those saved my hearing.

Amazon Prime Film/TV Series Recommendations

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