Stranger Things

This thrilling Netflix original drama stars Golden Globe-winning actress Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, who lives in a small Indiana town in 1983 -- inspired by a time when tales of science fiction captivated audiences. When Joyce's 12-year-old son, Will, goes missing, she launches a terrifying investigation into his disappearance with local authorities. As they search for answers, they unravel a series of extraordinary mysteries involving secret government experiments, unnerving supernatural forces, and a very unusual little girl.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b9EkMc79ZSU

This TV Series is slow, in fact, if it got any slower it would be in reverse, the reviews said this show was fantastic, the only fantastic thing I've seen so far is Winona Ryder knocking her character out of the ball park for a home run.
There's no criticism of any other characters either, all play their part OK but they aren't going to win an Oscar for it.
I'm 5 episodes in and I still don't know where the character Eleven fits into this show, how did she get her powers?, are there more like her?, why doesn't she go to that secret government lab and squash it like a tin can?. There are more questions than answers and it's been reflected in my 5 episode review of this series.

I'll watch this series till the end of season 1 but, if it doesn't get into 3rd gear by the end of it I'll be giving it the boot.

Season 1 Rating So Far.

4.5\10

The very bottom of average, it really needs to buck it self up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNtJn_sDyJk

"Checkmate king 2 to white rook, over"
"Schnell schnell"
Sgt Saunders, Kirby, Cage, Little John.....
And a great opening tune.

Posted in honour of the Birthday threads in General Topics. :)

Looking forward to the second season starting next Monday.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmuq7KlLIAo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxdqd5Lr0GA


With a lot of long running tv series ever now and then they'd throw in a funny episode...This is a 5 star one. No one gets killed, and lots of laughs. :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCoQVW5Bv3w

Bring back Black and White, Colour's overrated.

Peter Gunn, Dragnet, The Naked City, The Untouchables ( saw a chick wearing a t shirt with "The Untouchables" written across the front :D ) Classic TV.

Reasonable Doubt 2022

In Reasonable Doubt, you'll judge Jax Stewart for her questionable ethics and wild interpretations of the law until you're the one in trouble Then you'll see her for what she is the most brilliant and fearless defence attorney in Los Angeles who bucks the justice system at every chance she gets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nI3rb3BeQ8

As you'll come to realize this show is specifically aimed at the black community, who I find to be the most racist people on earth even though they'll deny it. If this had been made in the UK it would have gone down like a lead balloon, why the hell you yanks put op with this black garbage I have no idea but, every time I watch a defence lawyer show they always use Race as a weapon of mass destruction.

This show could have been terrific, But... the constant ragging on white people and calling them every name in the book for absolutely zero reason Is not ok, it wouldn't be ok if the races were reversed, and it's not ok this way either.
I mean, it's all the way to the point of, the only mention of a white woman is the one who lied about being sexually assaulted and is discredited without a second thought, but a black woman who claims to be sexually assaulted (also by a rich black man) gets upset that she isn't immediately believed by opposing counsel? Come on.....
It's fine when it's done in a way that fits in with the storyline, but the characters are talking badly about white people and calling them names without any provocation whatsoever, I'm not going to recommend this show, as there's too much bollocks in it and, all the "f whitey" stuff should have taken a back seat and driven over the nearest high cliff along with the screenwriters.

TV Rating 4\10.

It scraped in at 4\10 which is under average, if there was less of the racial bollocks slurs and a lot more white cast to even things out it would have got a 6 or higher.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2-xs4JYSUg

"The Eagle of the Ninth" 1977......A bloody good tv series from the Old Dart. I don't remember how it ended but I do remember looking forward to the next episode with much impatience.

Poor bloody Romans, I wish they'd stuck around and not "fallen", the World would've turned out a LOT better than what we got now.....

Slow Horses 2022.

Slough House is a dumping ground for members of the intelligence service who have screwed up, left a service file on a train or have blown a surveillance, or become drunkenly unreliable, they're the services poor relations. A dysfunctional team of MI5 agents and their obnoxious boss, the notorious Jackson Lamb, navigate the espionage world's smoke and mirrors to defend England from sinister forces.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O9ZJChzPn0U

I like the premise of this series, spying is not all glam and travel like a James Bond movie, but ranges from the mundane surveillance to the disgusting such as going through someone's rubbish.
Each character is fleshed out throughout the episodes and their flaws, of which there are many are actually their main assets.
The boss man, Jackson Lamb, is brilliantly played by Gary Oldman, lank greasy hair, questionable hygiene habits, a flatulent chain smoker, who, despite his disparaging comments about and to his team, will go to the wall for them.
This is more like an incompetent Columbo type series, some of the characters are so thick I wondered how MI5 employed them in the first place, but, as we've all seen over the years, the stupid always get rewarded somehow.

TV Series Rating 7.5\10.

There was the usual Woke bollocks in this series but, if you look beyond all that nonsense you'll find out that this show is pretty good.

Extrapolations (2023)

Unanticipated stories of how the upcoming changes to our planet will affect love, faith, work and family on a personal and human scale.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PqhOWyji0k8

Extrapolations is a new Apple TV+ anthology series that explores the effects of climate change on our world. The series is told through eight interconnected stories, each of which focuses on a different aspect of climate change and its impact on people's lives.

The series is thought-provoking. It doesn't offer easy answers, but it does challenge us to think about the choices we make and the impact they have on the planet.
Overall, It's a must-watch for anyone who cares about the future of our planet and, if you don't give a toss about our planet you can have hours of fun throwing things at the TV screen, a win, win for everyone. :O:

TV Rating 6.5\\10

bad news for fans of Lara Croft :(

Tomb Raider: The Legend of Lara Croft (2024)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cj5hLxhwW1c

Citadel: Diana

The global spy agency Citadel was destroyed by the syndicate, Manticore; since then, Diana Cavalieri, an undercover Citadel agent, is alone, trapped behind enemy lines; the only way out for her is trusting, Edo Zani, the heir of Manticore Italy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8i1RCK1rCuM

Citadel Diana was OK for a run of the mill spy drama, it was a straightforward show with a straightforward story but a few things put me off it, 1st, those flashback scenes were just too much, one is enough for me and no more, 2nd, Diana's hair wig, what the hell was that all about?, and 3rd, the head of the Zani family, he didn't need a gun as he could kill you with one boring sentence.
Apart from that the series had the usual professional killers who couldn't hit a barn door at 30 paces to save their lives, maybe next time eh, or even better, portray them as the trained killers that they are instead of a bunch of bleeding incompetents.
Matilda de Angelis as Diana navigated a series of double crosses in an action packed thriller without much action or thrills, it really needed the Russo brothers to upgrade that script because it had more bore than gore in the end.
Matilda is a decent actress but she really needs to work on her voice, get a voice coach you daft mare, she uses her normal voice as she did in the series "The Law According to Lidia Poet" in every role she plays.

TV Series Rating 5\10.

There were a lot of negatives with the series, but it still managed to get 5\10 which is still pretty good, if they'd sorted those out from the start it could have been a surprise hit of the year.

A big plus for Matilda de Angelis, she's always worth one, a look that is you perverts, a look. :O:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZT3XTcYPSu4


Lots of promise but a high production budget and it lasted for less than a season. :doh:

I've never come across this - looks really good - I wonder whether it's available on DVD (we still binge-watch boxed sets)

I stood by Hadrians Wall on a bleak day, in the rain, in 1973 and wondered at the time how a Roman soldier might have felt proper gloomy as he gazed east towards home. We were camped by the Wall and it didn't stop raining the whole time

It is good. A small cast and budget....but high quality script, actors, locations etc. And you can see that it "influenced" a few much later similarly themed movies. The whole series is on the net if you want me to point you in the right direction. When I rediscovered it recently, I binge watched the whole lot and was not disappointed, it's aged very well. A superior tv series.

If you want a good movie about Hadrian the best one is surprisingly Japanese dealing with his Public Works, and is bloody good, I posted the links a year or 2 ago, but I can dig it up if you want....I do recommend it :yep:

^
Yes I know the 2 movies I think you refer to: "The Eagle" and "Centurion" - both favourite films

It would seem to me that this TV series was inspired by the book of that name by Rosemary Sutcliff. She also wrote "Sword at Sunset" (which my brother and I read avidly when we were about 13) which gives the Arthurian legend a realist treatment, whereby Arthur is an ex-native British levy, late of the Roman occupation army. She wrote the most bloodthirsty stuff - not at all what you'd expect if you ever saw her - a genteel old lady

No need to dig out any links to Netflix - our internet connection wouldn't put up with it. And I looked on Ebay - it doesn't appear to have been released on DVD at all

It sounds as if your internet connection isn't much better than dial up Mr Squirrel, what kind of speeds are you getting and who are you with?.

Marvels The Defenders

Four of Marvel's biggest heroes are each working individually but have one common goal in mind -- to save New York City. Burdened with their own personal challenges, Matt Murdock (Daredevil), Jessica Jones, Luke Cage and Danny Rand (Iron Fist) realize that they likely won't be able to accomplish their goals working solo. That realization leads them to team up and form The Defenders, a supergroup that is more equipped to save the Big Apple than the heroes would be if they continued to work on their own.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYvHxEEgrPA

While most of the villains were extremely underwhelming threats and the heroes weren't much better either, I did make it to the end without committing suicide, it was a close run thing though.
They had the opportunity to make the villains an incredibly scary shadowy organization of highly skilled ninja warriors but instead we got another legion of generic piss poor gun/swordsmen. When are these pillocks going to learn that it isn't the number of dead bodies that make a good series but the skill of the bad guys that should have the heroes trembling in fear when they go into battle against them that makes one.
There was some good acting especially from Jessica Jones and the fight scenes weren't too shabby either but they would have been so much better if the villains were up to the job, just one more thing and it was a showstopper for me, Sigourney Weaver was totally miscast in this average show, why the hell didn't they make her terrifying instead of a mouse that squeaked instead of roaring like a lion.

Series Rating 5\10.

Another series that didn't live up to expectations, next time eh.

You have a PM. :)

Disc copy incoming :)

^
Thanks, mate

Rubbish BT landline. I'm switching to a wi-fi provider when we move - Moira's already using it and they both use "Smarty" at her mother's with great success. I'll be happy to ditch BT