Hidden Gems of Netflix's Watch Instantly

Baron Of Hell wrote:

Watched the first episode of Better than Us. Seems like it will be another Humans or Detroit type show. Two of the characters even look like characters from Humans and play the same type of roles so far. Liked the first episode but it seems like it will be paint by numbers robot uprising show.

Glad to see someone else checking this out. It's definitely not a robot uprising show, for what it's worth.

Baron Of Hell wrote:

Watched the first episode of Better than Us. Seems like it will be another Humans or Detroit type show. Two of the characters even look like characters from Humans and play the same type of roles so far. Liked the first episode but it seems like it will be paint by numbers robot uprising show.

Please let me know how it goes. The trailer just seemed too much like Humans to be worth checking it out.
Netflix is still pushing me to see it, though.

So it's like Multiplicity if Micheal Keaton kept trying to kill the other Michael Keatons.

GLOW Season 3 - feels like a show people have forgotten about, but this latest season is the strongest yet I think. It involves even less wrestling and focuses more on the ladies themselves, which was always the show's strength. It's smart, funny and has real heart.

The I-Land is not a hidden gem. It's definitely in the running for the worst show Netflix has ever put out. Avoid.

Aetius wrote:

The I-Land is not a hidden gem. It's definitely in the running for the worst show Netflix has ever put out. Avoid.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll heed this warning. It feels to me like at some point Netflix intentionally changed their strategy from having a handful of really good original series to just having a ton of original content, regardless of quality.

Aetius wrote:

The I-Land is not a hidden gem. It's definitely in the running for the worst show Netflix has ever put out. Avoid.

I'd have to agree. I got through episode 1 and started into 2 but just not feeling it at all. I like the premise a lot, a group of strangers who wake up on a mysterious island with no memory of how they got there. Typically that alone would get me half way through because I love these kind of show but the writing is just terrible. Or maybe it's just that these people are not randomly picked and some of them are just the dumbest people on earth? The acting isn't great either and on top of the things that make zero sense given the situation it just makes this show hard to get into.

Sydhart wrote:
Aetius wrote:

The I-Land is not a hidden gem. It's definitely in the running for the worst show Netflix has ever put out. Avoid.

I'd have to agree. I got through episode 1 . Or maybe it's just that these people are not randomly picked and some of them are just the dumbest people on earth? The acting isn't great either and on top of the things that make zero sense given the situation it just makes this show hard to get into.

Oh, so it’s like Another Life, but set on Earth?

merphle wrote:
Sydhart wrote:
Aetius wrote:

The I-Land is not a hidden gem. It's definitely in the running for the worst show Netflix has ever put out. Avoid.

I'd have to agree. I got through episode 1 . Or maybe it's just that these people are not randomly picked and some of them are just the dumbest people on earth? The acting isn't great either and on top of the things that make zero sense given the situation it just makes this show hard to get into.

Oh, so it’s like Another Life, but set on Earth?

I at least got halfway through Another Life so I'd hazard to say it's better.

Aetius wrote:

The I-Land is not a hidden gem. It's definitely in the running for the worst show Netflix has ever put out. Avoid.

Was already ignoring it due to how crappy the trailer looked, but thanks for confirming.

Premise had me interested but if the execution is that bad I'll skip.

Thanks all, for saving me a few hours.

I've still got some good older Netflix shows on my list that I should settle it with this week.

Just finished The Wu Assassin. It was entirely fine. Well acted and produced but nothing memorable. Good background fluff but entirely forgettable.

The Spy, starring Sascha Baron Cohen, is a gripping 6 part miniseries detailing the activities of Israeli Mossad agent Eli Cohen, who infiltrated the Syrian government to its highest levels in the early 1960's.
I thought it was excellent, the acting and cinematography was top notch.

I watched Last Knights, which is a kind of strange mash-up of an Asian and Medieval setting loosely based on 47 Ronin. It is a bit of a slow burn with a lot of atmosphere and pretty well acted with Clive Owen in the lead. I can see why critics didn't love it, because it does have some pretty paint-by-numbers tropes in it and the dialog is a little weird but fits the setting I think. Regular audiences like it and I thought it was a decent movie and some good sword fights. I recommend it if you have a couple of hours to kill and you typically like medieval movies.

Sydhart wrote:
merphle wrote:
Sydhart wrote:
Aetius wrote:

The I-Land is not a hidden gem. It's definitely in the running for the worst show Netflix has ever put out. Avoid.

I'd have to agree. I got through episode 1 . Or maybe it's just that these people are not randomly picked and some of them are just the dumbest people on earth? The acting isn't great either and on top of the things that make zero sense given the situation it just makes this show hard to get into.

Oh, so it’s like Another Life, but set on Earth?

I at least got halfway through Another Life so I'd hazard to say it's better.

Save me a spot for the I-Land hate train. The show is bad. Like really really bad. Acting is "meh" because almost every line of dialogue feels like a first draft.

LeapingGnome wrote:

I watched Last Knights, which is a kind of strange mash-up of an Asian and Medieval setting loosely based on 47 Ronin. It is a bit of a slow burn with a lot of atmosphere and pretty well acted with Clive Owen in the lead. I can see why critics didn't love it, because it does have some pretty paint-by-numbers tropes in it and the dialog is a little weird but fits the setting I think. Regular audiences like it and I thought it was a decent movie and some good sword fights. I recommend it if you have a couple of hours to kill and you typically like medieval movies.

Thanks for the critique. This is on my list of maybe's so I'll give it a try. If I don't like I'm blaming you though.

Slowly working my way through Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance. I've been really enjoying it to be honest, it's got a solid if slightly predictable plot, the voice acting is for the most part pretty good and there is nice sense of pervading doom running throughout the series that - assuming you've seen The Dark Crystal and remember it's plot - acknowledges where the series will eventually have to end up at.

The puppeteering is really well handled from the start and noticeably improves as the show goes on I think. The puppets are by and large great; some of the creature design is absolutely amazing, but other times it doesn't quite come off right. I can appreciate how hard it must be to try and make arachnid puppets but the Spitters for example don't really come off for me. I also think they never quite get away with the emotional vacuum of the Gelfing's faces either. They do so much with the voice work and the animation though that it's really not that big an issue - but it is there. No idea how you'd fix that though without the whole design and control of the Gelfings becoming seriously complicated.

Also, the Skeksis always feel (to me) that they should have much deeper, growling voices rather than the rather comedic high pitched falsetto that the majority of them use. The emperor (Jason Issacs I note) seems to get the balance right. Simon Pegg's Chamberlain I can only tolerate in short bursts for some reason. Probably matches the character but after an episode that is "Skeksis heavy" I have to turn off and do something else.

Over all though I think it's pretty damn good. One hell of a cast too when you look into it!

Sydhart wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:

I watched Last Knights, which is a kind of strange mash-up of an Asian and Medieval setting loosely based on 47 Ronin. It is a bit of a slow burn with a lot of atmosphere and pretty well acted with Clive Owen in the lead. I can see why critics didn't love it, because it does have some pretty paint-by-numbers tropes in it and the dialog is a little weird but fits the setting I think. Regular audiences like it and I thought it was a decent movie and some good sword fights. I recommend it if you have a couple of hours to kill and you typically like medieval movies.

Thanks for the critique. This is on my list of maybe's so I'll give it a try. If I don't like I'm blaming you though.

I recommend it is a movie to actually sit and watch, since it really chews on atmosphere and unspoken dialog. I don't think it will be worthwhile if you are looking for a movie to watch in the background while doing other things.

I've been watching The Chef Show with Jon Favreau and it's absolutely wonderful. The love, care and intense interest from Jon about learning how to cook is infectious and has made me stretch my cooking legs as well. I made some amazing Korean stew the other day just based on that show.

Netflix just played me the trailer (boy howdy do I love that) for this The I-Land, and the Lost joke made me laugh extra hard, given that this show quite clearly exists because Netflix lost Lost.

I think we need a streaming show specific term for "mockbusters" at this point.

SpacePPoliceman wrote:

Netflix just played me the trailer (boy howdy do I love that) for this The I-Land, and the Lost joke made me laugh extra hard, given that this show quite clearly exists because Netflix lost Lost.

I think we need a streaming show specific term for "mockbusters" at this point.

So I have to admit I've never watched Lost but maybe that is why it's so bad? Some people on twitter are saying they made it so bad on purpose because you can't not watch it. I don't know how that works personally because I had no problem taking it off my list.

Sydhart wrote:

So I have to admit I've never watched Lost but maybe that is why it's so bad? Some people on twitter are saying they made it so bad on purpose because you can't not watch it. I don't know how that works personally because I had no problem taking it off my list.

I can't and won't speak to quality because I'm not watching it either, but that's certainly why I find so much of Netflix's output hollow and soulless stuff I have no desire to watch. Much as it is a punchline, Lost was/is great, a truly significant show. Incredibly cinematic and formally daring in ways that still don't show up that often, with a very diverse cast that offered very diverse stories, and kept expanding and expanding in exciting ways. One week it was a fugitive thriller, then next week it was a goofy comedy, and then the week after that it was a neo-noir, and then before the winter break it was a love story, and then after a love story with time travel. I'm sure it gets a lot of people searching for it on Netflix, and they're pretty clear about how search results lead to series, which ends up with a lot of things they can recommend in your searches that look like what you're actually after if you squint and huff enough paint thinner.

Also skeptical of something being so bad it must be watched, but I suspect they're happy people are saying that. I have a sneaking suspicion that they treated Evangelion the way they did specifically to rile people up.

Between Two Ferns: The Movie is out and it's pretty danged hilarious. If you find the Funny or Die videos funny, then you'll probably like the movie because it's basically that with some narrative tacked on.

If you think the Funny or Die videos are super cringy and possibly mean and cruel then you should at least watch the end credits because they're chock full of outtakes showing how much fun everyone actually had.

Also season two of Matt Groening's animated series Disenchantment is up. I know people were mixed on the first season, but it kinda grew on me.

Unbelievable hooked me for a binge watch. Since I know someone who actually had something very similar happen, without the ‘win’ at the end, it made some of those episodes really hard to watch.

I-land is terrible. I finished it, but only because I’m hard headed.

Wife and I really liked Disenchanted and am excited for s2. Thanks for reminder.

Outlander. Not sure if it had been mentioned but the first 2 seasons are on Netflix. It's part scifi, part historical drama, part Game of Thrones with Harlequin romance drizzled on top. And I can't stop watching it.

Oh! Thanks for the reminder about Disenchantment. I know what I'm binging when the homework is all over.

"Marianne" is so...freaking....good :O

pyxistyx wrote:

"Marianne" is so...freaking....good :O

Almost too good. Incredibly unsettling. I’m plucking up courage to watch episode 2. The potential for awful things to happen is enormous.

I’m also excited for season 2 of Disenchanted.

Higgledy wrote:
pyxistyx wrote:

"Marianne" is so...freaking....good :O

Almost too good. Incredibly unsettling. I’m plucking up courage to watch episode 2. The potential for awful things to happen is enormous.

I’m also excited for season 2 of Disenchanted.

I'll be finishing Marianne tonight. I have really enjoyed it so far, and barring a last-minute debacle, I can definitely recommend the show!