Hidden Gems of Netflix's Watch Instantly

Mindhunter wasn't technically canceled. The problem is that David Fincher is just really really busy.

https://www.vulture.com/2020/10/mind...

merphle wrote:

Does it get better after the first two episodes? Because the first two were... not good. I can definitely see how people would get turned-off and stop watching, even that early in the season - and I'm sure Netflix is tracking those statistics.

The wife and I are about 8 episodes into this now and I actually think it is getting worse. The last 2 episodes have been REALLY boring. At this point, knowing it's cancelled anyway, I'm not sure we will even make it through the last few episodes.

Malor wrote:

Netflix kills things so fast that it seems foolish to invest in anything they make until it's finished.

About 60% of broadcast shows get the axe every year so it's not like Netflix is doing something crazy.

I'm OK with Netflix killing off shows because it frees up resources to make others, most of which would never be made or see the light of day in the network/cable model. You think NBC or SyFy would have even taken a meeting with the producers who were pitching a German time travel show?

That reminds me, I'm starting Dark as soon as I finish catching up on Arrowverse.

ComfortZone wrote:

In case anyone was wondering, the new Rebecca on Netflix is disappointingly dull. They somehow managed to make a B tier version of an A tier movie (and novel). Not worth it IMO.

Kirsten Scott Thomas was the only redeeming quality of that movie, let's be honest.

Watched Enola Holmes and liked it. I didn't think much of the main plot but Enola's adventures were entertaining. Everyone did a good acting job. Superman and his brother only had small parts but the little time they had was well acted. This is indeed Enola's movie. Her dreamy boyfriend gets more time and is a big part of the plot. I think he might be in a boy band. Might look him up later. Everyone else had micro parts.

The movie looked good. Outfits looked accurate to me. Setting was spot on if you allow for a more kid friendly feel so the babies can watch it. So nobody dies after selling their body and teeth because they wanted to take care of their kid. Maybe one or two violent scenes that might not be okay for the babies.

Since a woman is carrying the movie people will same it is man hating feminist agenda. I didn't get any of that from this movie. I seen some reviews claiming this but the few I have seen seem to be click bait. She is smart but not a mary sue. Dreamy boy saves her a few times. If Enola was a boy the movie would have played out about the same with minor changes.

Finishing S1 of Hannibal last night got me thinking about Mindhunter again. I mean Hannibal is OK (well mostly, I just like watching Mads Mikkelsen as Lecter) but Mindhunter blows it out of the water.

MannishBoy wrote:

If you're not sure you're going to make season 3, wrap up most of the big arcs while maybe leaving hints at what could come. Don't do the things they did with the Marvel shows.

I don't think the Marvel show runners could have anticipated Netflix revenge-canceling some of their most popular shows because Disney announced their own streaming service.

Malor wrote:

Netflix kills things so fast that it seems foolish to invest in anything they make until it's finished.

who has a better kill record? Netflix by season 3 or Google at year two of acquisition?

Hobbes2099 wrote:
Malor wrote:

Netflix kills things so fast that it seems foolish to invest in anything they make until it's finished.

who has a better kill record? Netflix by season 3 or Google at year two of acquisition?

Google Reader for life!

I am in the minority here, I know, but I loved Bly Manor. I felt it was a really good story, wether it was a love story or a ghost story (both, I would say), and even though the english accents were a bit on the heavy side, I think the strength of the story made it much more interesting than the other Haunting series. To me it was heart breaking and such an utterly sad way to spend a very long time as a ghost that it became a lot more memorable and haunting than many other ghost stories out there.

Google Sketchup FTW!

Fredrik_S wrote:

I am in the minority here, I know, but I loved Bly Manor. I felt it was a really good story, wether it was a love story or a ghost story (both, I would say), and even though the english accents were a bit on the heavy side, I think the strength of the story made it much more interesting than the other Haunting series. To me it was heart breaking and such an utterly sad way to spend a very long time as a ghost that it became a lot more memorable and haunting than many other ghost stories out there.

The accents were, by and large, a disgrace especially the narration which certainly was from all over the place. I tend to agree with your other comments. The shock bits were very early but set up the series nicely.

ComfortZone wrote:

Finishing S1 of Hannibal last night got me thinking about Mindhunter again. I mean Hannibal is OK (well mostly, I just like watching Mads Mikkelsen as Lecter) but Mindhunter blows it out of the water.

Hannibal was also only a network channel show. One of the best ever produced IMO. If the networks would've put that much money, effort into all their shows Netflix wouldn't have taken off as big as they did.

MannishBoy wrote:
beanman101283 wrote:

The first episode of The Queen’s Gambit was a fun watch. Vaguely disturbing as well. But I’m looking forward to seeing the rest.

Just finished it. Not a bad show. Actually gets better as it goes along. Wasn't sure if I was going to continue after watching the first couple of episodes.

If you'd like more background on the series and a great analysis of the last game, watch this video from Antonio (agadmator)...

Spoiler: ENDING SPOILER - WATCH AFTER FINISHING SERIES
kborom wrote:
Fredrik_S wrote:

I am in the minority here, I know, but I loved Bly Manor. I felt it was a really good story, wether it was a love story or a ghost story (both, I would say), and even though the english accents were a bit on the heavy side, I think the strength of the story made it much more interesting than the other Haunting series. To me it was heart breaking and such an utterly sad way to spend a very long time as a ghost that it became a lot more memorable and haunting than many other ghost stories out there.

The accents were, by and large, a disgrace especially the narration which certainly was from all over the place. I tend to agree with your other comments. The shock bits were very early but set up the series nicely.

As a born-and-raised American, I thought the accents sounded perfect.

Surely you have heard Received Pronunciation (a.k.a. “posh” or “the queen’s English”) from BBC reporters and the like. And surely you can tell when RP starts turning into Cockney in the midst of a sentence. No? Never watched the original Mary Poppins?

Oh well. Maybe one of those YouTube dialect experts will do a video on it. I’d like to know just how many regional dialects the narrator used.

Anyway I did end up liking the conclusion, particularly the very last shot.

Sarah Cooper’s Netflix special Everything’s Fine was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The most amazing thing was the variety of guest stars. Some bits were hilarious, some just fell flat. Overall worth it for the good bits.

Watched the first four episodes of Blood of Zeus and thought it was okay so far. It is a cartoon in the style of Castlevania. The story is about Zeus raping a woman and getting her pregnant. This pisses his wife off so she decides to kill the woman and the baby. The timing of this is perfect because the corpse of a giant transform a dude into a demon around the same time. Now we have pissed off goddess wife and demons causing trouble for Zeus's bastard kid.

I'm currently reading wonder woman new 52 that has a similar story. I think this and the fact this is the 100th time a version of this story has been told makes it feel not so fresh. What if Hera got mad at Zeus for once and attacked him instead of the rape victim. Greek gods always blaming the victim. Have you read Medusa's story, it is just sad. This is why I only worship Glory. Someone said there was a connection between Glory and Ben.

BadKen wrote:

Sarah Cooper’s Netflix special Everything’s Fine was a bit of a mixed bag for me. The most amazing thing was the variety of guest stars. Some bits were hilarious, some just fell flat. Overall worth it for the good bits.

I made it through about 70% of it this morning and I really have enjoyed it thus far. The Magic Card bit and how awkward it was was of particular delight, as we have done a couple zoom magic shows as "team buiders" at work and that bit was, yeahhhhhh - exactly.

Finished The Queen's Gambit and pretty much loved it all the way through. A nice mashup of your typical sports and mad genius movies. Performances were great, and seven episodes felt like just the right length. Definitely check it out!

beanman101283 wrote:

Finished The Queen's Gambit and pretty much loved it all the way through. A nice mashup of your typical sports and mad genius movies. Performances were great, and seven episodes felt like just the right length. Definitely check it out!

That is great to hear. I saw the trailer and thought it was fantastic, but also thought it was a trailer. When I learned it was a series, I figured it would be 13 episodes and have the typical Netflix bloat, which I find pretty unbearable. Especially these days when there is always something great to watch.

Blood of Zeus was somewhat entertaining in a mindless heroes-fighting-monsters sort of way, but overall it's pretty deeply flawed.

(CW: rape, victim blaming, misogyny)

Spoiler:

I'll give the show partial credit for at least having Zeus acknowledge that the whole situation is his fault, unfortunately the show misses the mark by making it seem like his worst failing is cheating on Hera, and not the fact that he repeatedly raped and gaslit a woman by pretending to be her husband. Granted that sort of behaviour is pretty on-brand for Zeus, but the show goes out of its way to excuse his behaviour by having his victim realize he's someone else in disguise and fall in love with him anyway. Gross.

What's worse, the show follows the tired mythological trope of making Hera a murderous villain who blames Zeus' victim almost as much as she blames him. Yes, these are all things that happen in the Greek myths, but they're still grossly misogynistic. By telling a new story rooted in Greek mythology the writers had a chance to do something different, but they just stuck to the same old tried and true sexist bullsh*t.

Speaking of which, Hera is literally the only Greek goddess who gets to be a character. The male gods are well-represented: Zeus, Poseidon, Apollo, Hermes, Hephaestus, Ares and Hades all have lines and important roles to play in the story. But the other female gods? Artemis, Athena, Demeter, Aphrodite, etc. are all just set dressing. They don't have any lines, they exist solely to stand in the background and look concerned.

There are basically only 4 female characters in the show: Hera, two fridged mother figures, and an amazon warrior -- that last one is actually fairly badass, except for the fact that she repeatedly needs to be saved by the male protagonist.

Even the monstrous giants have a male leader. All they really do is rampage around and destroy stuff so they really don't even need to have a leader, but the show still took the time to show that a dude was calling the shots. Also one of the lady giants has four breasts and it just looks silly.

Over the course of the series Zeus goes from flawed mentor figure to noble martyr. He dies a hero's death that I guess is supposed to redeem him and completely excuse the fact that all this started because he RAPED SOMEONE, ruining countless lives in the process. But he gave his wife a saucy wink and blew himself up so I guess everything is ok now, right? That's how it works?

I really enjoyed The Queen's Gambit. Anya Taylor-Joy does a fantastic job.

I binged Evil earlier this week. It's a CBS show that I believe was on broadcast TV last fall, but the one season was brought to Netflix this month. Forgive me if someone's brought it up on this thread before, but as you might imagine, searching for "netflix evil" here wasn't very productive.

Anyway, the show is surprisingly good, despite the title. It centers around a charming trio (Catholic priest-in-training, professional skeptic, and psychologist), who are employed by the Catholic Church to confirm or debunk claims of demonic possession, miracles, and the like. Each member of the team seems to have their own personal demons (get it?) to deal with, while diligently performing their duties. As a lapsed Catholic myself, I found myself entirely entranced while watching this.

And I'd be remiss if I neglected to call out the splendidly late title card in each episode. Oh, it's so good.

Hobbes2099 wrote:
Malor wrote:

Netflix kills things so fast that it seems foolish to invest in anything they make until it's finished.

who has a better kill record? Netflix by season 3 or Google at year two of acquisition?

That's part of why I generally try not to use Google anything. The only reason I have a Pixel phone now is because Apple dropped headphones.

merphle wrote:

I binged Evil earlier this week. It's a CBS show that I believe was on broadcast TV last fall, but the one season was brought to Netflix this month. Forgive me if someone's brought it up on this thread before, but as you might imagine, searching for "netflix evil" here wasn't very productive.

Anyway, the show is surprisingly good, despite the title. It centers around a charming trio (Catholic priest-in-training, professional skeptic, and psychologist), who are employed by the Catholic Church to confirm or debunk claims of demonic possession, miracles, and the like. Each member of the team seems to have their own personal demons (get it?) to deal with, while diligently performing their duties. As a lapsed Catholic myself, I found myself entirely entranced while watching this.

And I'd be remiss if I neglected to call out the splendidly late title card in each episode. Oh, it's so good.

I really enjoyed this series as well. The actor, Michael Emerson, who plays the main bad guy is delightfully evil. He was fantastic in Person of interest as well.

And he was great on LOST

I just happened to watch the first two episodes of Evil last night. It was interesting. I do like the ideas behind the show especially how many of fantastical elements of the show so far....

Spoiler:

are given a rational explanation.

I'll probably stick it out through the season.

Also I want to say ditto to all the praise given to The Queen's Gambit. I finished it in 3 nights and it is amazing. When it was over I almost wanted to start watching it again, just so I could admire how the camerawork, wardrobe and sets all work together to make Anya Taylor-Joy become the most captivating person in the world- or maybe she's just already that, and I hadn't realized it before.