Good TV (aka, the TV series spamthread), the second series

[Sly Boots]

Don't be tempted to read his other book Abominable, it's trash.

Similarly, I've read that season 2 of The Terror - a completely different story, cast etc - is also rubbish

[Raid]

24, Season 2

Christ I've watched 48 episodes of this in less than three weeks.

Yup, still great, but the second season really does dial up the ridiculousness. It's really interesting though looking at this in hindsight - season 2 covers the attempt to destroy Los Angeles with an atomic bomb, and then trying to prevent an unnecessary war in the Middle East as a response. Just a year earlier the real-life United States suffered a catastrophic attack, and two thirds through season 2's airing, they invaded Iraq prompted by poor intelligence (or deliberate attempts to secure oil reserves, depending on who you believe). It's like the show exists in one of those barely dissimilar parallel universes they occasionally visited in rubbish 90s sci-fi show Sliders (where everything is identical except that the Golden Gate Bridge is blue).

I know the series is two decades old now, but I'll spoiler the remainder in case anyone else fancies jumping back in to this insane rollercoaster of political machinations and lots of shouting into mobile phones.

Spoiler

It's very po-faced, but it's all still terribly exciting. I'm still not sure having the nuclear bomb go off halfway through was the best choice from a storytelling standpoint, but I'm glad they do deal with the fallout (pun intended). There's a whole load of silly soap opera stuff shoved in there that doesn't really go anywhere in this season, and I don't think it adds a lot. The stuff between Michelle and Carrie was entirely unnecessary; Carrie's entire story arc could have been filled by a well placed CCTV camera.

It's all driven by just the most brilliant portrayal of Jack Bauer by Kiefer Sutherland. He's playing something of a caricature, he's a one man army with no weaknesses except for a pathological devotion to "the ends justify the means". Christ, by the end of this one he ends up in a fist fight with a man twice his size, despite having been dead about 6 hours earlier. Is Jack Bauer actually a zombie? Is Tony Almedia really a talented necromancer? Well I've got another 5 seasons to find out!

But bloody hell, the Kim Bauer storyline in this is just stupid and entirely superfluous. I didn't hate it exactly, it's actually quite exciting, but I kept expecting a payoff that never came. Other than a few phone calls, her story doesn't tie into the main plot at all. I though her employer was going to be involved in the bomb plot somehow, but no, she's just the most unlucky person in the history of television. You'd have thought the dreadful scenario she was involved in in season 1 would have prompted her to at least take some self defence classes or carry a taser or something, but she's just a bit useless.

[Wrathbone]

Falcon and the Winter Soldier

When I first heard about this, my immediate reaction was that they’ve picked the two most boring characters in the MCU, chiefly due to them having zero character development over the course of twenty-something films. And yep, the first episode is supremely boring. Coming off the back of something as unique, focused and engaging as Wandavision, it feels like generic action mixed with sullen, bimbling about with no real direction.

Honestly, I don’t know what they can do to make Falcon or the Winter Soldier interesting characters. I’m about as invested in the MCU as you can reasonably expect someone to be and I simply don’t care about them.

[Raid]

I actually quite liked it. Sure, it doesn't have the same impact as Wandavision's first episode, but I'd say this was much more consistent with theming of the rest of the MCU. I don't mind seeing a little more of the downtime between the world-ending catastrophes, as well as more of the consequences from the fact that half of humanity ceased to exist for five years. I don't disagree about these being some of the least interesting MCU characters though (at least now that Barnes has left his Soviet super-soldier life behind), hopefully the series will fix that as it progresses.

It's not as enticing a prospect as Wandavision, but it has promise. We'll have to see where they go with it. Maybe it'll turn into a spy thriller like the second Captain America film, which is still one of the strongest solo outings.

[Wrathbone]

Don’t get me wrong, the downtime scenes are some of the best in the MCU (the hammer-lifting scene after the party in Age of Ultron springs to mind), but I couldn’t muster any interest in what was going on in this episode. Banking troubles? Oh, that’s unfortunate. Predictable therapy? Well, maybe he’ll improve. An awkward date? Maybe next time! I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with any of it. None of it raises any questions.

[Raid]

I see your point I suppose; I'm definitely more excited by what I'm expecting to come than what was actually there on screen. I think what's a little more worrying is the fact that there are only going to be 6 episodes from what I can tell (I looked it up while typing this), and they've basically wasted an episode on stuff that wasn't all that interesting.

[Tommy]

24, Season 2

Christ I've watched 48 episodes of this in less than three weeks.

Yup, still great, but the second season really does dial up the ridiculousness. It's really interesting though looking at this in hindsight - season 2 covers the attempt to destroy Los Angeles with an atomic bomb, and then trying to prevent an unnecessary war in the Middle East as a response. Just a year earlier the real-life United States suffered a catastrophic attack, and two thirds through season 2's airing, they invaded Iraq prompted by poor intelligence (or deliberate attempts to secure oil reserves, depending on who you believe). It's like the show exists in one of those barely dissimilar parallel universes they occasionally visited in rubbish 90s sci-fi show Sliders (where everything is identical except that the Golden Gate Bridge is blue).

I know the series is two decades old now, but I'll spoiler the remainder in case anyone else fancies jumping back in to this insane rollercoaster of political machinations and lots of shouting into mobile phones.

Spoiler

It's very po-faced, but it's all still terribly exciting. I'm still not sure having the nuclear bomb go off halfway through was the best choice from a storytelling standpoint, but I'm glad they do deal with the fallout (pun intended). There's a whole load of silly soap opera stuff shoved in there that doesn't really go anywhere in this season, and I don't think it adds a lot. The stuff between Michelle and Carrie was entirely unnecessary; Carrie's entire story arc could have been filled by a well placed CCTV camera.

It's all driven by just the most brilliant portrayal of Jack Bauer by Kiefer Sutherland. He's playing something of a caricature, he's a one man army with no weaknesses except for a pathological devotion to "the ends justify the means". Christ, by the end of this one he ends up in a fist fight with a man twice his size, despite having been dead about 6 hours earlier. Is Jack Bauer actually a zombie? Is Tony Almedia really a talented necromancer? Well I've got another 5 seasons to find out!

But bloody hell, the Kim Bauer storyline in this is just stupid and entirely superfluous. I didn't hate it exactly, it's actually quite exciting, but I kept expecting a payoff that never came. Other than a few phone calls, her story doesn't tie into the main plot at all. I though her employer was going to be involved in the bomb plot somehow, but no, she's just the most unlucky person in the history of television. You'd have thought the dreadful scenario she was involved in in season 1 would have prompted her to at least take some self defence classes or carry a taser or something, but she's just a bit useless.

I loved 24. I think it's about as farfetched as I'm willing to go, before skipping superheroes/horror and going to actual fantasy.

Been a while since I watched it, might watch some this weekend now you've jogged my memory. I just rememer Tony Almedia being an excellent anti-hero type (Not sure that's the correct term). It's just gripping action and Kiefer Sutherland like you say is excellent.

[Animalmother]

Resident Alien
An alien crash lands near a small town in Colorado and pretends to be the new doctor. It's Alan Tudyk as the alien so that's great. I'm still on the fence after 2 episodes if it's worth keeping with but it's only 8 episodes so might as well persevere. The alien practical effects are pretty great, the cgi not so much.

[Sly Boots]

Resident Alien
An alien crash lands near a small town in Colorado and pretends to be the new doctor. It's Alan Tudyk as the alien so that's great. I'm still on the fence after 2 episodes if it's worth keeping with but it's only 8 episodes so might as well persevere. The alien practical effects are pretty great, the cgi not so much.

I think it's excellent, at least a few laugh out loud moments in each episode. Might just be a good fit for my weird humour, but I'm really enjoying it.

[Animalmother]

Watched 5 episodes now and I'm definitely liking it more. Love his interactions with the kid, basically an alien swearing at a child

Spoiler

And his reaction to getting a boner for the first time

[Achtung Englander]

The New Pope season 2

This show that started so strong in season 1 (aka Young Pope) completely lost its way in its second and final season

Borderline rubbish. The only thing holding it together was some remarkable acting from Silvio Orlando and the cinematography which is stunning.

4/10

[Achtung Englander]

Farrow v Allen
Sky Documentaries
This is a pretty distributing 4 part documentary on the peodofile allegations against Woody Allen and his adopted 7 year old daughter, Dylan. At the time I never paid much attention to this media circus as I thought the crux of the issue was that he slept with his teenage adopted daughter Soon Yi, which is weird to begin with. I came away shocked. He pretty much fucked up Dylan who is still suffering from post sexual anxiety from the violation. I believe her completely. On a point of curiosity the kids are always referred to as his children but Allen and Farrow were never married and he only had 1 natural born child with Allen, so technically I suppose he can see himself as not being "dad". Doesn't matter I suppose as what he did was fucking disturbing.

It makes it difficult to watch his movies which is a shame as Bananas and Sleeper are classics. Never mind...

On a side note - I am really impressed with the quality of programs on Sky Documentaries.

[eny]

I grew up with an eery feeling of dislike towards him, never really got his self-obsessed films, always thought the humour was manic and puerile. Yet another "elite" who has been untouchable.

[Achtung Englander]

yeah you really get to see the nasty side of him

[Achtung Englander]

Pride & Predujice (1995)

After seeing the film I wanted to do a compare and contrast and it had nothing to do with fancying Jennifer Ehle. I found the pace of the TV better (well it did have 6 hours to the film 2) but the set design in the film was superior. The lighting for the night scenes for the TV show were laughably bad. As I said this was an exercise in comparison and er...watching Jennifer Ehle was just a pleasant coincidence. Honest guv

7/10