Hidden Gems of Amazon Prime instant videos

Another one to finish Undone and mainly enjoyed the story, acting, dialogue and part cartoon style.

I was definitely not happy at ...

Spoiler:

the ending, you cannot take viewers on such a great journey and then say at the end, "we don't know how to finish this so will leave you with no idea how it finishes"

Couldn't sleep last night and found that the movie Dragonslayer was added to Prime.

I honestly don't know how I missed this movie growing up and was surprised that it was good, especially for an early 80s D&Dish fantasy movie.

kborom wrote:

Another one to finish Undone and mainly enjoyed the story, acting, dialogue and part cartoon style.

I was definitely not happy at ...

Spoiler:

the ending, you cannot take viewers on such a great journey and then say at the end, "we don't know how to finish this so will leave you with no idea how it finishes"

I must disagree with the thing you were not happy about. I thought it was a brave choice, and something that is rarely seen in mainstream video productions and movies. I wish more storytellers has the guts to do what Undone did.

OG_slinger wrote:

Couldn't sleep last night and found that the movie Dragonslayer was added to Prime.

I honestly don't know how I missed this movie growing up and was surprised that it was good, especially for an early 80s D&Dish fantasy movie.

I saw this in the theater as a little kid, and I was just shocked at how realistic the dragon and its young appeared (to me). It still holds up fairly well.

Stumbled across Chris Porter's latest stand-up comedy special "A Man from Kansas" a couple days ago and enjoyed it so much, I went and immediately watched his other two specials from 2009 and 2014. I had never heard of him before, but he was apparently a finalist on Season 4 of Last Comic Standing.

It was a bit surprising watching his older stuff after his latest because in his latest special he's a well-groomed average looking white male, but in his two older specials he almost looks like... the driver of a candy van or the Unibomber or something and he mentions his self-appearance in several of his jokes.

December 6th

I love that show so much.

Fleabag is so good. Binged most of season 1 last night, gonna try to get in at least half of season 2 tonight. Didn't know she developed Killing Eve, but this moved that much further up the list.

I finished Undone over the weekend, and that show is incredible, highly recommended.

I've always liked Bojack Horseman a lot, but was somewhat skeptical of its creator's range, given the somewhat repetitive cycles Bojack goes in. But I read Raphael Bob-Waksberg's book of short stories this summer and loved it, and Undone is great too. He's got a very clearly defined perspective--it's easy to tell that Bojack, his book, and Undone are all made by the same person--but there is a lot of difference in tone and theme and structure. There's this view of humanity that I can see someone describing as cynical but I think is instead much more empathetic and loving than it first appears. His characters often do pretty rotten things, but they are not cruel or evil people, they're just human.

As one example of this in Undone--spoilers tagged for events of the penultimate episode--I so appreciated learning that

Spoiler:

Becca didn't just have a fling with the bartender in that first episode, she also later cheated on her fiancee with another, unnamed person, seriously deflating the impression one might have otherwise taken from that first episode, that Alma had manipulated Becca into endangering her relationship out of jealousy. That revelation emphasized that Becca made her own choices, and that there were issues between Becca and Reed totally unrelated to Alma plowing Becca with shots.

I have mixed feelings about this show ultimately being a question of whether Alma suffers from mental illness or instead has access to these reality-warping powers. It's a pretty tired trope, mostly well-executed here, but I have a general aversion to "is this really happening?" as a plot point. But the writing is so sharp and sad and funny, the acting is excellent, and the twists and turns are pretty enjoyable. I'm very much hoping we'll have a second season.

And a comment on the final shot of the season:

Spoiler:

It's a little too cliffhanger-y for my tastes that we don't even see what Alma sees, just the light changing and her reacting. If it's going to be her dad emerging from the cave and saying "we did it!" or something, I don't know why they didn't just show that as the moment to end on. And if it's not going to be that, then it just feels like a super cheap way to end the season. Either go the expected way or throw some sort of curveball. The way they went instead just feels like a cop out. It's fine, I'll come back to find out, I just thought it was a surprisingly bleh final moment for an otherwise strong season.

My thoughts on the ending of Undone:

Spoiler:

The reason you don't see whether Alma's Dad comes back is that it's irrelevant. The real arc of the story is the strengthening of the love between Alma and her family (including Sam), in spite of/because of her mental illness/magical powers. Becca comes to find her in Mexico, Sam stays with her even after she comes clean, and of course, she gets to know her Dad as an adult for the first time (maybe?).

It's a family soap opera with a magical sidestory, not the other way around.

My wife and I really enjoyed it - the dialogue is so sharp, the relationships are fractious and believable.

Bonus_Eruptus wrote:

Fleabag is so good. Binged most of season 1 last night, gonna try to get in at least half of season 2 tonight. Didn't know she developed Killing Eve, but this moved that much further up the list.

This is one of the only shows I can genuinely say that I wish I could watch it again for the first time. I especially mean that about Season 2. I'm jealous.

I think I said it above but I haven't been compelled to laugh at a TV show in a long time. Fleabag makes me spit-take 4-5 times an episode. And I think it has to do with Phoebe too because her SNL appearance was one of the funniest I've seen in many years.

Re the Undone ending:

Spoiler:

If that's just where the show ends flat-out, I agree with you. The family's story is the thing and whether any of the time travel stuff was real and created changes can be ambiguous and unresolved. But if we're coming back for Season 2 and we see the moment after is just "Hey, Dad's back!" then that seems like an obvious enough direction forward I don't know why they'd withhold that one shot. Or if they come back for Season 2 and it's revealed Alma was seeing something else altogether (a wild guess--Farnaz comes through instead?), showing us a more unexpected and also unexplained reveal like that strikes me as a strong moment to go out on and leave viewers pondering. It may be that the answer is they didn't know if they were getting a second season and so wanted to give themselves flexibility about ending it there versus launching a new season, which is understandable but just doesn't strike me as a strong creative choice (reminds me of the end of Veronica Mars Season 3). Anyway, it didn't take away how much I enjoyed the show overall, I just thought it was a missed opportunity to end on a strong note.

Has a second season of Undone been announced?

Discovered seasons 1-3 of Meerkat Manor are streaming.

Sounds like a hidden gem, never heard of it. Sell us on it!

It’s an adorable documentary series that plays out like a reality TV show. Kind of like the old Disney nature shows.

Meerkat Manor is just fantastic, and really well done.

I watched Annihilation last night and loved it. The ending was a bit obvious but enjoyable nonetheless.

Isn’t Annihilation Netflix? Or is this a different movie?

I really enjoyed the Natalie Portman one.

Someone recommended an obscure Aussie Horror Lake Mungo that’s streaming at the moment. I’ve rentedit but haven’t dared watch it yet.

Higgledy wrote:

Isn’t Annihilation Netflix? Or is this a different movie?

I really enjoyed the Natalie Portman one.

Someone recommended an obscure Aussie Horror Lake Mungo that’s streaming at the moment. I’ve rentedit but haven’t dared watch it yet.

The Natalie Portman one is on Amazon. Lake Mungo is on my watchlist along with We Need to Talk About Kevin, Hereditary, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

A few months ago I watched The Loved Ones. That was a great modern slasher.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

The Natalie Portman one is on Amazon. Lake Mungo is on my watchlist along with We Need to Talk About Kevin, Hereditary, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

I loved Hereditary. The Killing of a Sacred Deer... not so much.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

The Natalie Portman one is on Amazon.

Ah ok good. It was on Netflix in the UK maybe it's moved or it's different in the US.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

Lake Mungo is on my watchlist along with We Need to Talk About Kevin, Hereditary, and The Killing of a Sacred Deer.

I didn't get on that well with Hereditary. Thought I was interesting but it didn't work for me as a horror movie. Some folks adore it though. I've heard negative things about 'The Killing of a sacred Deer' but it looks intriguing.

EverythingsTentative wrote:

A few months ago I watched The Loved Ones. That was a great modern slasher.

I skipped the middle of that movie because I found it too disturbing (but I wanted to know how it resolved.)

Higgledy wrote:

Someone recommended an obscure Aussie Horror Lake Mungo that’s streaming at the moment. I’ve rentedit but haven’t dared watch it yet.

Big fan of that movie. Someone took the found footage genre and did something new and interesting with it. It's kind of scary but mostly makes you feel sad.

Oh, and put me as believing The Killing of a Sacred Deer is the best film of 2017.

Killing of a Sacred Deer is the best film of 2017

Oh nice. I'll get it watched. Thanks both.

Spoiler:

To be fair I am a big fan of Yorgos Lanthimos and also the basis for the movie, Agamemnon

I watched Killing of a Sacred Deer last night. I didn't have any expectations going into that and I couldn't have expected what I got.

I just finished Lake Mungo. Solid pass from me. I didn't like the documentary style. The story was great, but they didn't nail the execution.

Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan: Season 2, Episode 1:

Not as terrible as the trailers indicated so far, though I was right that...

Spoiler:

...there was a bit of an homage to the ambush scene from Clear And Present Danger.

I did not like We Need to Talk about Kevin at all. Not even sure why anyone would consider that horror. Maybe if I wasn't expecting a horror movie I would have enjoyed it more.