What shows have you binge-watched?

[Dung Beatles]

Finally watched X-Men Apocalypse.

The problem with this movie can be summed up in two words:

eXcessive eXposition.

They repeat too much of the story way too many times. It's so blatant it regularly breaks suspension of disbelief. It happens in almost every scene and leave nothing at all to the audience to keep them guessing about what happens next. It feels like Fox entertainment still doesn't respect the property or the audience for these films. There's no need for the cast to constantly keep a running dialogue of everything that happens in every scene and everything that just happened. It's so bad that the dialogue sounds stilted and completely wooden.

[Dung Beatles]

Have been on a classic silver screen WW2 jag lately.

War correspondent Ernie Pyle died this day in 1945. Played by Burgess Meredith on the big screen back when patriotism was clean and lacked the stink of today's leering partisan foolishness.

[NeilG]

We just wrapped up watching "The Capture". It's an 8-part BBC series available on Prime, excellent. It's got a heavy tech focus and the thing I liked about that part of it is that it's not shown as magic, what they do is maybe out of current reach but plausible in principle. Aside from that, it's well acted and the story pulls you in from the start.

[Dung Beatles]

Watched "The Outsider". Phenomenal. I loved every minute of it. Normally I avoid things that involve violence against children as subject matter. I can't think of anything more horrifying, but I'm on the 8th episode of this show and it has been a real nail biter for me.

[Dung Beatles]

Watching Season 2 of Castle Rock.

Lizzie Caplan was born to play Annie Wilkes. I would have never thought that someone could nail such a faithful portrayal of such an iconic bad guy. Season 2 is already better than Season 1 after the first episode.

Plus there's the added bonus of Annie Wilkes being placed in Salem's Lot. There's so much fan service, it's ridiculous without being ridiculous.

Spoiler:

Edit: Holy shit, she's at the Marsten Estate! FUCK! I'm fuckin' riveted.

[submessenger]

Here's a recap of what I've done since finishing Expanse:

1. Discovery - solid retake on the franchise, I will pick it back up when third season is out, later this year.
2. Picard - I'm 50/50 on this. Started great, then got kinda slow, then finished strong. Will definitely try second season.
3. The Night Shift - I'm finishing up S3, right now. This is a medical dramcom that ran 4 seasons on NBC. Currently on Netflix. It's a guilty sweet spot for me, almost poorly written, very soapy, but with realistic blood and gore, and lots of medical-sounding technobabble. I enjoy the Texas setting as an actual character in the show. Elevator pitch: this is every nighttime medical dramcom ever done, except updated with new and better FX, and centered around the Texas active and reservist military community. Also, a completely different soundtrack. So far, they haven't played "How to Save a Life," so that's a bonus.

Wife and kids are doing entire MCU again (except the Deadpools, those are mine), I think this is their 3rd time through. I've talked them into watching Heroes as a family effort, maybe start that next week.

Our other binging has been playing Breath of the Wild on Switch.

[Dung Beatles]

Our other binging has been playing Breath of the Wild on Switch.

Heroes Season 1 was great. After that, they got lost in a never ending branching timeline, time travel plot. After S1 they couldn't seem to nail down the direction they wanted to take the characters or plot. They leaned way too heavily on deus ex machina and sometimes just left plot lines dangling with no good resolution and huge alterations in character personalities. Honestly, it all started to feel a little schizophrenic.

[submessenger]

Heroes Season 1 was great. After that, they got lost in a never ending branching timeline, time travel plot. After S1 they couldn't seem to nail down the direction they wanted to take the characters or plot. They leaned way too heavily on deus ex machina and sometimes just left plot lines dangling with no good resolution and huge alterations in character personalities. Honestly, it all started to feel a little schizophrenic.

I liked the whole first series, the second series I couldn't get into.

That being said, I will take your notes into consideration while I re-watch.

[Dung Beatles]

I've got a pet theory that "the Kid" may be either the Crimson King or the Walking Dude.

[submessenger]

I've got a pet theory that "the Kid" may be either the Crimson King or the Walking Dude.

Maybe even Flagg, himself? 3 sides of the same coin.

You're talking about the younger brother, yes? It's been so long that I don't remember how things ended up with him and his older brother and Sylar. There was definitely a lot of play into who was good and who was bad, which was very interesting. All three of them could have been considered righteous, at some point.

Whatever Flagg's iteration was, he was always evil. I think that separates the character enough to not be part of this Kring thing, but there are always homages and stuff at a higher level, so maybe that's part of the charm.

LOL King, Kring...

[Dung Beatles]

Maybe even Flagg, himself? 3 sides of the same coin.

You're talking about the younger brother, yes? It's been so long that I don't remember how things ended up with him and his older brother and Sylar. There was definitely a lot of play into who was good and who was bad, which was very interesting. All three of them could have been considered righteous, at some point.

Whatever Flagg's iteration was, he was always evil. I think that separates the character enough to not be part of this Kring thing, but there are always homages and stuff at a higher level, so maybe that's part of the charm.

LOL King, Kring...

Oh, I was talking about "the Kid" on Castle Rock. Sorry, I'm as clear as mud about half the time.

[submessenger]

Oh, I was talking about "the Kid" on Castle Rock. Sorry, I'm as clear as mud about half the time.

Oh, that makes more sense. Castle Rock, duh, of course he is (or at least a derivative or minion). I should probably watch that show, sometime.

[Tranquil Suit]

It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia has been renewed for their 15th season.

I got my magnum condoms and my wad of hundreds ready.

[Dung Beatles]

Oh, that makes more sense. Castle Rock, duh, of course he is (or at least a derivative or minion). I should probably watch that show, sometime.

Man, we're both huge King fans. You will dig it. The story of Annie Wilkes will tear your heart out though. Lizzy Caplan did an amazing job at recreating the character. After the character was fleshed out more in the story, she reminded me a lot of my mom to be honest. It was a cathartic for me and a real tribute to King's universe.

[It is Fake]

Rewatching Sopranos since I never finished it.