What movies or TV shows are you watching now?

[dukeandduke]

No Homeland this week either. Curses!

I know. I'm liking Season 4 a lot more than 3. The downside is that they're sure to leave a lot of stones unturned and me in pain waiting for 5.

[BookMan]

To be quite honest, at the moment i would rather go searching for mini series (like the really good Ozzie ones) that are a few years old than try to get a film to work.

I just did Last Tango in Halifax 2 x 6 episodes. I like family dramas.

Nice avatar Patsy.

Keep us updated with any Aussie ones you discover.

[BookMan]

Did a search and saw no mention of Beauty and the Beast with Kristen Kreuk. Just finished season 1 and really enjoyed it. Ok, great eye candy with Kristen but liked the story line and concept too. IMDB rating 7.3 but personally I would rate it a bit higher. Personal preference of course.

Have to say I had missed that one.

I saw the show is part of the CW network.

They are also showing Jane The Virgin. About a woman (mid twenties?) who is engaged to be married and is a virgin who is saving herself for the marriage night. A bungled/mixed up exam leads her to being artificially inseminated.

I watched the first episode (maybe the second?)....it's okay for some light comedy filler

[HooHaa]

This show made Chiang Mai look like some sort of third world tawdry hellhole, where everybody eats extreme pork offerings on the street, and drinks Lao Kao and Sangsom, chased with iced Leo beer. Instead of his trademark rumpled plaid shirt, he should have done this episode wearing a sweaty Chang Beer tank top.

Thanks a lot, "Tone." Don't come back.

-1/10

Agreed. My mom saved it for me for my visit. We watched it and she looked at me like, "Why the hell would you want to live there, and why the hell would I want to visit?"

I usually like his shows, or at least I liked his old show.

it was about drinking food from the north east. thought it was brilliant.

[Frank James]

peaky blinders, black sails.

Kim Jong Un has a classic Peaky Blinders haircut, and he's nasty enough to be in the crew!

[Patsycat]

Re - the avatar, i was bounced around between three. This one seems to have stuck!!

Have, this avo, downloaded another mini series. The Collision. An older ITV series.

Am still loving The Missing and tonight The Fall.

My usual American series seem to be still digesting their turkey.

Be careful downloading from certain places, there seem to be some nasty people out there putting things on which will put a virus into your computer. Myself, i just look for the ones that i recognise.

Edited December 4, 2014 by Patsycat

[Will27]

TNT Renews Legends for Season 2

http://www.tv.com/shows/legends-2014/community/post/legends-renewed-season-2-tnt-141771902526/

I'm looking forward to the return of Mr Bean.

[Will27]

To be quite honest, at the moment i would rather go searching for mini series (like the really good Ozzie ones) that are a few years old than try to get a film to work.

I just did Last Tango in Halifax 2 x 6 episodes. I like family dramas.

I'm hearing you Patsycat.

That's what I've been doing. Searching for some mini series that I might've missed.

There's not too many new movies at there that have caught my eye to be honest.

[Ulysses G.]

I've been concentrating on films as the TV pickings have been slim. It is closing on awards season and there are some pretty good screening copies. I have bunch of episodes of series that I gave up on that I can watch if desperate, but, so far, I don't have any desire to continue with them. I can see why I stopped watching The 100, Crisis and others of that ilk.

Edited December 5, 2014 by Ulysses G.

[craigt3365]

I've been concentrating on films as the TV pickings have been slim. It is closing on awards season and there are some pretty good screening copies. I have bunch of episodes of series that I gave up on that I can watch if desperate, but, so far, I don't have any desire to continue with them. I can see why I stopped watching The 100, Crisis and others of that ilk.

Legends looks very promising. Just got the episodes downloaded.

Saw The Expendables 3 last night. Disappointing...again. What a great cast and a lousy movie.

Cleanskin was quite good.

[i claudius]

Try a place of execution a 3 parter

with Lee Ingelby very good on the bay

[i claudius]

Sorry Place of execution

[i claudius]

Sorry Place of execution

Just finished watching it be prepared for a shock ending. Well worth watching

[BookMan]

Maze Runner

Post-apocalyptic dystopian story based on the young adult trilogy of novels. The setup of the movie made me interested in reading the story in the book.

It kind of almost gets there…(as always, my personal dislike, too much touchy-feely dialogue)

6/10 from me

[Frank James]

Growing up in the 1950's, my buddies and I watched every war movie that ever came to our beloved neighborhood 2nd run theater. Some favorites: Steel Helmet (A Sam Fuller classic); Sands of Iwo Jima (The Duke as Sgt Stryker, USMC); Attack! starring Jack Palance; Stalag 17; 30 Seconds Over Tokyo; The Enemy Below; 12 O'Clock High; The Dam Busters; Take the High Ground; Retreat, Hell!; Marines Let's Go!; Wake Island; Battle Cry; Beach Red; Sergeant York; The Naked and the Dead; They Were Expendable; Home of the Brave; The Men; Guadalcanal Diary; and my All Time Fave, To Hell and Back, the true story of Audie Murphy, America's Most Decorated Soldier.

Last night I watched Fury, the new Brad Pitt movie featuring WWII tank warfare. I can't think of another film featuring tanks except Sahara, with Humphrey Bogart. Oh, and almost forgot, The Beast featuring a Russian tank crew stranded in Afghanistan. Fury reminded me somewhat of Das Boot, in that the combatants are confined inside what is essentially an underpowered, under-armored rolling coffin, as the U-Boats were the water-borne equivalent.

Even though it contained several of the stock war movie cliches of the old standards, the film pulls no punches in showing how continuous total war turns men into beasts. I noticed in this film the Germans are always referred to as "Nazis", not "Krauts" or "Jerries" as in the old films. Guess they are mindful of distribution and perception in the Eurozone.

There are very strong, honest performances by all of the cast, and the action is intense, sustained, and almost painful. Violence Score: ELEVEN!

A worthy addition to the War Movie Hall of Fame.

8-1/2 // 10

Edited December 5, 2014 by Frank James

[BookMan]

Even though it contained several of the stock war movie cliches of the old standards, the film pulls no punches in showing how continuous total war turns men into beasts. I noticed in this film the Germans are always referred to as "Nazis", not "Krauts" or "Jerries" as in the old films. Guess they are mindful of distribution and perception in the Eurozone.

There are very strong, honest performances by all of the cast, and the action is intense, sustained, and almost painful. Violence Score: ELEVEN!

A worthy addition to the War Movie Hall of Fame.

8-1/2 // 10

Loved it. Like a war movie should be. Caught it on the big screen first, then watched it again at home. It really is a great spectacle on the larger screen. The action and firing scenes are quite awesome.

[bkkmick]

The Fall. Brilliant. Set in Belfast but not the usual subject matter.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294189/?ref_=nv_sr_1

[HooHaa]

The Fall. Brilliant. Set in Belfast but not the usual subject matter.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294189/?ref_=nv_sr_1

thats next for me.

tried happy valley as well, but found it irritating and gave up on episode 2.

[i claudius]

Just started watching a series with Martin Clunes William and Mary looks like it's going to be good ,you know where it is you can find it

[i claudius]

The Fall. Brilliant. Set in Belfast but not the usual subject matter.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294189/?ref_=nv_sr_1

thats next for me.

tried happy valley as well, but found it irritating and gave up on episode 2.

Shame that you did not like it ,I loved happy valley

[Frank James]

The Fall. Brilliant. Set in Belfast but not the usual subject matter.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294189/?ref_=nv_sr_1

The second series has two more episodes to go and the creep factor is off the charts. I want to come back here after it's over and discuss some of the elements, in particular the police procedures on display here.

OK???

Great show!

[i claudius]

The Fall. Brilliant. Set in Belfast but not the usual subject matter.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294189/?ref_=nv_sr_1

The second series has two more episodes to go and the creep factor is off the charts. I want to come back here after it's over and discuss some of the elements, in particular the police procedures on display here.

OK???

Great show!

I do not intend to watch it until all episodes downloaded,so please no spoilers

[BookMan]

Manny

Documentary on the Filipino boxing champion Manny Pacquiao, an 8 division champion.

Tells a decent enough story, but still basically a propaganda piece for Manny. (Liam Neeson narrates!)

Enjoyed it. 7/10 from me

[Ulysses G.]

Is anyone besides me watching "Kingdom"? It is about a bunch of very flawed characters in the mixed martial arts world, but fighting is mostly a backdrop to their personal lives. I quite like it, but it usually takes a few days to appear on PB, so maybe not that popular generally.

[Frank James]

I watched a documentary last night that was so odd, I need to give it a shout out. It is called Point and Shoot, about a privileged young (mid 20's) guy who lived at home in Baltimore with his mom and grandma, all the way through grad school at Georgetown ($$$) University, where he earned a Masters Degree in Middle Eastern Studies.

At the beginning of the saga, looking like a complete putz, he does a frontal monolog, showing off his "tactical" Smith & Wesson brand folding knife (retail about $25), a boot knife, a neck knife, and a "bulletproof " vest. This is all before he takes off on his odyssey of self discovery, rolling across North Africa, riding solo all the way into Afghanistan on a motorcycle, videotaping himself all the way. In Iraq and Afghanistan, he manages to get "embedded" as a journalist, going out on patrols with Honest-to-God American troops.

He is not loath to admit that he has always been a wimpy loner, with a rather severe case of Obsessive/Compulsive Disorder: endless hand washing, decision paralysis, fear of sugar, stuff like that. And yet, he is determined to have a life of frontline adventure, facing and overcoming his fears.

When the Libyan anti-Gadaffy uprising starts, he goes back there and rejoins his friends, as a fellow revolutionary, camera in one hand, rifle in the other. He was taught how to handle various war weapons while with the US troops, so he is seen and accepted as a valuable asset. Even after being imprisoned by Gadaffy's guys for five months, when he gets out of jail, he stays to fight on.

Other reviewers of this film were rather hard on the young man, calling him a narcissist and a dilettante. Maybe so, but I have to give him a lot of credit for getting out there and putting his three-piece on the line in overcoming his personal demons, and fighting for what he believes in. He's perhaps the modern equivalent of the brave/naive un-soldierly young guys who volunteered to fight against fascism in Spain (see Orwell, George, Homage to Catalonia) in the 1930's.

Some writers have compared the young man to Timothy Treadwell, the sad, naive, bear-loving "hero" of Herzog's documentary "Grizzly Man". I think that's a cheap shot, by critics who have never dared to put themselves on the line. This kid, Matthew VanDyke, threw himself out there, and in my book, he's all right.

An interesting portrait. 7 // 10

Edited December 6, 2014 by Frank James

[Ulysses G.]

You certainly make it sound interesting. I intend to check it out.

[Will27]

Just watched a fantastic doco called Narco Cultura on the drug culture in Mexico.
Let's just say you wouldn't want to work in the CSI there. Apart from the amount of

murders, the investigators are getting bumped off as well.

To be honest, It was more like fiction than reality, frightening stuff.

Compelling viewing really.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2504022/?ref_=nv_sr_1

IMDB: To a growing number of Mexicans and Latinos in the Americas, narco traffickers have become iconic outlaws and the new models of fame and success. They represent a pathway out of the ghetto - a new form of the American Dream, fueled by the war on drugs. NARCO CULTURA looks at this explosive phenomenon from within; cycles of addiction to money, drugs and violence that are rapidly gaining strength on both sides of the US/Mexican border.

[GrantSmith]

I too was in a documentary mood over the weekend, I watched the Jim Bulger story, Bulger or 'Whitey' as he was known in "Southy" Boston was an Irish American gangster...

The story focuses on his recent trial and conviction for multiple crimes (murder, racketeering, extortion and whatever else he got up to 31 convictions in total) granted he was no Al Copone but bloody hell, he did some damage and has maintained to this day that he's a criminal with scruples and denies ever being an informant for the Feds.

The trial has certainly opened up some division within the FBI and DoJ, good viewing and nowhere near as 'out there' as some of the Mexican Cartel stuff (thanks Khun Will27, I'm lining that one up as we speak)

[Patsycat]

St. Francis is a feel good movie with Bill Murray. I liked it.

[keemapoot]

St. Francis is a feel good movie with Bill Murray. I liked it.

I liked it too, but the one I saw was named "St. Vincent." Just teasing Patsy, we all have senior moments, and the movie was discussed in the thread earlier. I like Bill Murray in serious roles (thought Lost in Translation was his best), but St. Vincent is good too. He was a bit to unlikable though, but I guess that was part of the story arc.