I agree with @abasket. I watched it with my young adult daughter, who was in an orphanage in China from age 7 months to 23 months when I adopted her, at first I was disheartened by the depiction of orphanages in the U.S., and I thought that the racial integration of the orphanage (orphans as well as staff) was not an accurate depiction of these institutions in the South at that time. Certainly we discussed these historical flaws afterward but we both thoroughly enjoyed the series as a whole.
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Oh wow, The Crown is so good! I thought I had seen season 1 but little seems familiar. Was there another tv mini-series about Elizabeth II? (I did watch Victoria.). Iām glad I switched from rewatching Doctor Who long before Ten left the scene, because otherwise I would keep wondering why Eleven was impersonating Phillip. But at least itās been a while since Iāve watched Doctor Eleven (It was hard enough watching Clara as Victoria.). Excellent casting all around. And it definitely took my mind off my sore vaccinated arm.
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For my future reference if and when I do ever try to watch it again, what did all of you fans of Queenās Gambit think about the fact that the main characterās portrayal is said to have been unrealistic in terms of what a female chess player would have truly experienced during the time period of the series? Criticisms Iāve heard are that the author of the book was a man, her character was based on male chess players, and the series lacked an authentic portrayal of the lead character from a young womanās point of view.
My teen told me to start watching All American. Turned into watching 2 seasons in 5 days.
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The 1st episode was dark, and if not for this thread, I would have stopped. But I persevered. It does get better.
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My 23 year old daughter who is quite a feminist watched it with me and she was all over Bethās role in a very positive way. I would say that it is clear that the sport - and perhaps world - was dominated at that time by men - all of which she handled quite superbly most of the time. It was NOT āeverythingās coming up rosesā for sure - but I think the portrayal of a woman in a manās dominated game/world was pretty awesome.
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Though I find The Crown overall to be excellent, I found myself not enjoying season 4 as much as the earlier ones. The early seasons educated me alot about things that happened during my childhood and young adulthood (spent lots of time googling things).
Season 4 I thought was uneven. The Princess Diana-centric episodes were very sad, knowing how ultimately things would turn out for her. In earlier seasons I felt empathy for Charles, but in season 4 he was just a snobbish jerk.
The Margaret Thatcher episodes were much more enjoyable, with all the political intrigue.
The Princess Margaret mental health episode (donāt want to give away too much) was extremely interesting----had no idea those things had happened. Spent lots of time on Wikipedia after watching that episode!
So now we wait however how long it will take for the new cast to film the final 2 seasons.
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We started The Flight Attendant last night and we are really enjoying it.
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2 years
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Been away from this thread a long time!
ā I am glad some people picked up on Call My Agent!, which I loved. I donāt think anyone mentioned, though, that the actress who plays the boss on Emilie in Paris, Phillipine Leroy-Beaulieu, has a recurring role in Call My Agent! in which she is much more nuanced and sympathetic. I thought Emilie was OK, but Iāll take Camille Valentini over Emily any day.
ā Solely because of all the recommendations on CC, I gave Schittās Creek another try, starting with Season 2. Nope. Not happening for me or my spouse.
ā I am really surprised at the lack of enthusiasm for Bridgerton, which my household found completely enjoyable in a trashy way. Including the alternative-reality casting. We also watched a bunch of The Great, which has a lot of the same ideas and appeal. Itās in many ways a more ambitious series, with an IQ 20+ points higher than Bridgerton, and it sports an honest-to-god superstar in Elle Fanning. But . . . we stopped watching, and I didnāt feel a need to continue.
A few recommendations:
ā Nordic Noir fans should check out Paatal Lok on Amazon Prime. Itās an Indian detective/suspense drama with lots of political overtones, really well-written, well-filmed, and well-acted. (The show runner is Sudip Sharma, who wrote an excellent film with similar themes a few years ago, Udta Punjab.) Instead of pairing a gruff, middle-age male detective with a contrasting younger female partner, it pairs a gruff, middle-age male detective with a younger, somewhat effeminate male partner who is Muslim. The show is very gritty and dark, but not explicitly violent except for a few brief moments.
ā I donāt think anyone has mentioned Lupin yet. It is really, really fun, and like Emilie and Call My Agent full of bona fide Parisian color. It stars a thoroughly charismatic Omar Sy, whom I first noticed in The Intouchables ten years ago, as well as a bunch of other quality French actors. An assimilated, highly intelligent Senegalese immigrant models himself on gentleman-thief Arsene Lupin, the hero of a century-old popular series of French novels. He effects ingenious, non-violent capers to bring the corrupt to justice, at the same time trying to patch things up with his ex-wife and remember his sonās birthday. My wife loved it, and she usually canāt stand anything with subtitles.
ā Lupin (and some reviews) made me give Money Heist a shot. Itās a Spanish caper story, not unlike an Oceans #__ with politics and class-consciousness, thatās been hanging around Netflix for a few years. I really enjoyed it, despite itās being too long (about 18 hours to a satisfactory ending point, and Iām not going beyond there) and having more plot holes than Swiss cheese. It does a fine job developing complex characters, sympathetic and not, on both sides of the law, and it comes up with a nice mixture of suspense, action, humor, pathos, and romance. There is a lot of threatened violence, and a fair amount of shooting, but a very low body count. Also, it gets lots of points for showing more than one woman as an effective boss, while also addressing the barriers they face. And unlike the other shows I have recommended here, it passes the Bechdel test with flying colors.
ā Not a series, but no one should miss Ma Raineyās Black Bottom.
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RE: Bridgerton, I found it more enjoyable than Belgravia, Julian Fellows pedigree notwithstanding. Found Bridgertonās characters more engaging and certainly more likeable. Dear wife does not agree, but thatās OK!
I enjoyed Bridgerton very much because it brought all the Regency romance novels Iāve read to life. All of the tropes and themes and scenes were beautifully presented. Vauxhall, the balls, the dresses, Hyde Park, the carriages, the servants, the promenadeā¦it will be fun to re-read the books. Whenever they become available.
Iāve always been amazed that no one has ever made a film version of any of the Georgette Heyer novels. We spent many happy hours in high school casting them. She did a lot of research for those novels as fluffy as we might like to think of them now.
Our library has all the books, but some of the early ones seem to have a lot of holds!
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I have all the Georgette Heyers - every few years I read through them all.
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Iāve read all of them multiple times, but itās been a while since Iāve reread them.
Just saw a trailer for a new Netflix series that I put on my list - Firefly Lane, based on the novel by Kristin Hannah. Comes out Wednesday.
Who has read the book(s) of this series? Trying to decide if I want to read the books before I watch the series.
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I am a big Kristin Hannah fan and have read and enjoyed the books. Theyāre easy reads, and itās a compelling story focused on a story of two friends over the decades. I think the series is only about the first book, so maybe you could read that one first, and see what you think? Iām looking forward to the series as well.
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Super late to the party but we have been bingewatching Breaking Bad while DH is recuperating from surgery. So good. Itās often listed with The Sopranos and The Wire as the apogee of the golden age of television. I loved The Sopranos but could not get into The Wire. We went to Albuquerque for a convention a couple of years ago and there was all this BB tourist kitsch and I scoffed b/c I could not relate. But this show is excellent. Itās 10 years old but more relevant than ever. That someone intelligent, educated, etc. cannot find a better way to provide for his family long-term than cooking meth is an indictment of our distorted values system and hollowed-out economy (not to mention the brilliant expose of the absurdities and corruption of our healthcare āsystemā).
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I really wanted to love Breaking Bad. Gave it multiple chances but finally cut bait somewhere into season 3. It was just too slow.
Iām watching Barbarians now on Netflix. Itās decent enough.
On another note, Iām getting really excited for Season 4 of Snowfall on FX (2/24). That Damson Idris hasnāt been nominated for an Emmy is criminal. Heās outstanding!
Resident Alien is both funny and occasionally dark. Would probably appeal to you if you liked The Good Place?