What Are You Watching

[A Lark Ascending]

Good news for fans of recent French series:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/19/french-tvs-reputation-spirals-upward

[Jazzjet]

9 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

Good news for fans of recent French series:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/19/french-tvs-reputation-spirals-upward

That is good news. I'm currently only on Series 2 on DVD so quite a lot to look forward to.

[jlhoots]

London Spy - finale

[Shawn]

18 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

Good news for fans of recent French series:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/feb/19/french-tvs-reputation-spirals-upward

I haven't watched this series yet but I'm a big fan of Les Revenants which is also mentioned in the article.  Which reminds me I need to see season 2...  

Will check out Spiral soon.  

 

 

 

[kinuta]

Endeavour- All season three. Interesting film references throughout. The last episode had the Jaws beach scene and Dirty Harry how many bullets.

11.22.63  First episode which I really liked. Hope the following parts keep up the focus and forward momentum.

[A Lark Ascending]

4 hours ago, kinuta said:

Endeavour- All season three. Interesting film references throughout. The last episode had the Jaws beach scene and Dirty Harry how many bullets.

Are you talking about the Morse spin-off or is there a different 'Endeavour'? I don't recall any beach in any of the last series! Enjoyed it though it got rather far-fetched especially the tiger one. 

Finished off Deutschland '83 - I thought the ending was anticlimactic and as implausible as the rest. The hero doing action man heroics straight out of a hospital bed where he'd just donated his kidney to his mum (he did wince once). Not bad TV - we're used to the implausible - but I'm surprised how well it's been received. 

Episode 5 of 'The Story of China' - This really is the BBC at its best. I've been enthralled throughout. My knowledge of Chinese history is patchy but Michael Wood has really done a marvellous overview job on this, sorting out all those dynasties. Beautiful camera work throughout. Above all, Wood brings home just how wrong our western view of China as a closed society for much of its history has been. And in this episode he pulls no punches in demonstrating the greed and inhumanity of the British, bullying their way into Chinese trade in the mid-19thC. Made for a welcome corrective to all the 'We're British, we're special!' nonsense that is swirling around at present (and will only get worse in the next few months). He's got to polish off c.1850 to the present in the last episode next week. I'm sure he'll manage it with his broad brush strokes.  

[sidewinder]

I thought the ending of 'Deutschland 83' was pretty rubbish - totally implausible, nothing like the way the military worked or works. Specially if you were around at the time and 'lived the era'. Enjoyable series on the whole but no surprise that the Germans hated it. Having said that, some of them were 'into' Bagwan and Udo Lindenberg back then..

Edited February 20, 2016 by sidewinder

[A Lark Ascending]

I assumed Udo Lindenberg was fictitious. I spent a fair bit of time in Germany in the 70s and early 80s and German musical taste was very different to Britain. The family we knew well there had two young lads in their early teens who were obsessed with Wham and even dressed like them - in Britain Wham were an uncool band for young girls. One of them went on to be a successful DJ/radio presenter.  

The way Martin constantly slipped through security was completely daft. Just as well my Dad wasn't around to see it. As an RAF policeman at the time he was involved in security on various bases including Rheindahlen in Germany. The security of our house was better than the military bases in the TV series. You couldn't even go to the loo in the middle of the night without a SWAT team descending on you.   

[kinuta]

2 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

Are you talking about the Morse spin-off or is there a different 'Endeavour'? I don't recall any beach in any of the last series! Enjoyed it though it got rather far-fetched especially the tiger one. 

Finished off Deutschland '83 - I thought the ending was anticlimactic and as implausible as the rest. The hero doing action man heroics straight out of a hospital bed where he'd just donated his kidney to his mum (he did wince once). Not bad TV - we're used to the implausible - but I'm surprised how well it's been received. 

Episode 5 of 'The Story of China' - This really is the BBC at its best. I've been enthralled throughout. My knowledge of Chinese history is patchy but Michael Wood has really done a marvellous overview job on this, sorting out all those dynasties. Beautiful camera work throughout. Above all, Wood brings home just how wrong our western view of China as a closed society for much of its history has been. And in this episode he pulls no punches in demonstrating the greed and inhumanity of the British, bullying their way into Chinese trade in the mid-19thC. Made for a welcome corrective to all the 'We're British, we're special!' nonsense that is swirling around at present (and will only get worse in the next few months). He's got to polish off c.1850 to the present in the last episode next week. I'm sure he'll manage it with his broad brush strokes.  

The beach scene from Jaws was recreated near a lake or very large pond in the woods. The kids sitting round the camp fire, guitar strummer, girl and boy make eye contact, girl flirtingly runs away pursued by the boy, culminating in the grizzly discover of an arm the next day. it was in the last episode of S3. The Dirty Harry nod comes near the end as DI Thursday aims his very large revolver at the evildoer and Morse chimes in about the number of bullets remaining in the chamber, which turns out to be a bluff. There were other film references in the previous episodes but I can't recall them at the moment. Agree that there were several far fetched elements throughout the series.

Although it's a bit of a stretch, the tiger allowed some of Chief Superintendent Bright's colonial past to be introduced, tying in nicely with him being the one to unexpectedly fell the beast and heroically save the day. Previously his role has always been a bit of a killjoy stick in the mud and the plot twist served nicely to expand his character .

Edited February 20, 2016 by kinuta

[A Lark Ascending]

Ah, I see. I've not seen either Jaws or Dirty Harry (I'm so cool I've never even seen Star Wars (as the radio series has it)) but I remember those scenes in Endeavour. 

Very silly and breaking virtually every 60s + taboo in the book. But it was nice to hear the songs in their original context. 

Edited February 21, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[kinuta]

4 hours ago, A Lark Ascending said:

Ah, I see. I've not seen either Jaws or Dirty Harry (I'm so cool I've never even seen Star Wars (as the radio series has it)) but I remember those scenes in Endeavour. 

Very silly and breaking virtually every 60s + taboo in the book. But it was nice to hear the songs in their original context. 

I would seriously recommend both Jaws and Dirty Harry (1).

I'd go as far as to say I'll pay the Netflix charge if you are not 100% entertained.

Edited February 21, 2016 by kinuta

[jlhoots]

Happy Valley - season 1, final episode

[kinuta]

1 hour ago, jlhoots said:

Happy Valley - season 1, final episode

I'm simply curious but I wondered if you found the dialect at all difficult to follow ?

 

[jlhoots]

2 hours ago, kinuta said:

I'm simply curious but I wondered if you found the dialect at all difficult to follow ?

 

I'm sure I missed some words, but not enough to interfere with enjoying the series.

Thanks to Bev for reassuring me.

[A Lark Ascending]

Gripping first episode. I've not read the book so am not going to be affected by the story changes. There's an excellent (and very humble) piece here from Le Carre about his experience of being adapted - http://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/feb/20/john-le-carre-the-night-manager-television-adaptation (I only skimmed that...didn't want to read any plot spoilers!).

Apart from the tense storyline, the location shots were utterly beautiful. 

We seem to be in a bit of a golden age for TV drama (or maybe I'm just watching more of it). 

4 hours ago, jlhoots said:

I'm sure I missed some words, but not enough to interfere with enjoying the series.

Thanks to Bev for reassuring me.

I knew you'd have no problem...I'm from the South (though I've lived in my castle in the tense borderlands for nearly 40 years) and rarely have too much trouble deciphering Northerners

Edited February 22, 2016 by A Lark Ascending

[page]

On 19-2-2016 at 11:20 PM, jlhoots said:

London Spy - finale

So, what did you think of it. I guess there is going to be a sequel.

7 hours ago, jlhoots said:

I'm sure I missed some words, but not enough to interfere with enjoying the series.

Thanks to Bev for reassuring me.

When I watch series on the BBC I usually put on the subtitles since I do miss a lot other wise. When I can read along in English it is easier for me. You do get the big picture but I tend to prefer to read along when possible so I won't miss anything. Maybe that's silly. I do learn new words and expressions that way too.

[jlhoots]

I found the London Spy finale perplexing. Some characters appeared earlier in the series & then were never seen again. I wasn't sure what to make of the demise of the Broadbent character. The ending with Rampling in the car was nice. The lie detecting method was goofy.

Overall I preferred Happy Valley.

 

[A Lark Ascending]

6 hours ago, page said:

When I watch series on the BBC I usually put on the subtitles since I do miss a lot other wise. 

So do I...on the English programmes as well as those in another language ! I don't have a hearing problem (yet!) but I find it helps me concentrate. 

[page]

2 hours ago, jlhoots said:

I found the London Spy finale perplexing. Some characters appeared earlier in the series & then were never seen again. I wasn't sure what to make of the demise of the Broadbent character. The ending with Rampling in the car was nice. The lie detecting method was goofy.

Overall I preferred Happy Valley.

I agree with you. At first I thought I was really curious how it would develop. I prefer Happy Valley as well, although I hope season 2 won't be as violent as the first season was. It probably will get there. I do like Catherine and some other actors.
 

23 minutes ago, A Lark Ascending said:

So do I...on the English programmes as well as those in another language ! I don't have a hearing problem (yet!) but I find it helps me concentrate. 

I understand. I don't have a hearing problem either, well not that kind anyway, I am what we call "noise deaf" which means that you have trouble concentrating when there is more than one sound at the time f.e. when there is music in a bar and you are talking to people. I've had lack of concentration for a number of years which came along with health problems. Due to that I have trouble reading which is tough since reading used to be one of my favourite things to do. I'm training my concentration though f.e. reading here at the forums for one to expand it a bit. Funny thing is that in music I can concentrate much longer than I can with other activities.

[A Lark Ascending]

I thought London Spy was one of those brilliantly unusual and superbly acted series that didn't quite hang together in the end. The denouement (I think that's the correct term) didn't live up to all the expectation. The soppy driving off into the sunset didn't seem to fit either. A classic 'better to travel than arrive' series. 

[page]

I started to watch "Le bureau des Legendes" a few weeks ago which seemed really good. I missed one episode though since I had to go somewhere and couldn't watch. After that I couldn't follow it any more. That was a pity. It is a french series about a secret service like MI5 or 6 in France

[jlhoots]

30 minutes ago, A Lark Ascending said:

I thought London Spy was one of those brilliantly unusual and superbly acted series that didn't quite hang together in the end. The denouement (I think that's the correct term) didn't live up to all the expectation. The soppy driving off into the sunset didn't seem to fit either. A classic 'better to travel than arrive' series. 

Thelma & Louise??? Rampling is scary.

Whishaw is coming to the US to play opposite Saoirse Ronan in The Crucible.

BTW, I'll have to try that subtitle trick.

Edited February 22, 2016 by jlhoots

[A Lark Ascending]

24 minutes ago, jlhoots said:

BTW, I'll have to try that subtitle trick.

My mum was hard of hearing in her latter days so the subtitles were always on. I realised I quite liked having them on. 

I like the way that once you've set your TV up they come up on programmes recorded on the digibox recorder as well as in real time.  

[paul secor]

I always keep the subtitles on when I'm watching a British TV show, simply because with the accents I occasionally can miss something if I'm just hearing the dialogue. I imagine that folks in Britain might have the same problem with American accents, and people for whom English is a second language would have even more of a problem with accents.

[catesta]

Is anybody here watching the new HBO series Vinyl?