Hidden Gems of Amazon Prime instant videos

merphle wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
Fredrik_S wrote:

If you are not watching it already, Outer Range is phenomenal. Very twin peaks.

Yeah, I watched a couple episodes last night. Super Twin Peaksey.

How would you describe it to someone like me, who's never seen Twin Peaks? It keeps bubbling up as a recommendation, and the description and screenshots look somewhat interesting, but I don't care at all for westerns.

Story primarily takes place on 2 different ranches and involves ranch life, not so much a western. Alternative to Twin Peaks is an overly long X-files episode.

kazar wrote:

That was the one I was referring to, but I didn't realize merphle was talking about the first.

Nice save.

ranalin wrote:
merphle wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
Fredrik_S wrote:

If you are not watching it already, Outer Range is phenomenal. Very twin peaks.

Yeah, I watched a couple episodes last night. Super Twin Peaksey.

How would you describe it to someone like me, who's never seen Twin Peaks? It keeps bubbling up as a recommendation, and the description and screenshots look somewhat interesting, but I don't care at all for westerns.

Story primarily takes place on 2 different ranches and involves ranch life, not so much a western. Alternative to Twin Peaks is an overly long X-files episode.

Hmm, I do enjoy a good X-Files episode. Perhaps I'll give it a shot.

Haven’t had a chance to watch Outer Range yet but when most people compare stuff to Twin Peaks they mean it’s a heightened melodrama reality revolving around a strange or inexplicable plot element and a constant undertone of dread. Not really X-Files so much as something like one of the non-satirical episodes of The Twilight Zone.

ruhk wrote:

Haven’t had a chance to watch Outer Range yet but when most people compare stuff to Twin Peaks they mean it’s a heightened melodrama reality revolving around a strange or inexplicable plot element and a constant undertone of dread. Not really X-Files so much as something like one of the non-satirical episodes of The Twilight Zone.

all of the above applies for this one...

merphle wrote:

It's hardly a hidden gem, but I finally got around to watching Sonic The Hedgehog (2020) last night. Jim Carrey makes an excellent Dr. Robotnik, and totally stole the show.

Ben Schwartz, who played Jean-Ralphio on Parks and Rec, and the voice of Sonic in these movies, was on a recent episode of Bullseye with Jesse Thorn, and seemed to be just as silly and sweet and goofy as you would expect. Funny and delightful interview.

The first 4 episodes of Bosch: Legacy are now available to stream on Amazon, courtesy Freevee (which appears to be a rebranding of the previous IMDBtv streaming platform). I'm delighted to report that these first 4 episodes feel just like all the previous Bosch seasons that were produced by Amazon.

merphle wrote:

The first 4 episodes of Bosch: Legacy are now available to stream on Amazon, courtesy Freevee (which appears to be a rebranding of the previous IMDBtv streaming platform). I'm delighted to report that these first 4 episodes feel just like all the previous Bosch seasons that were produced by Amazon.

In. Most definitely, in.

I enjoyed The Contractor. Apart from one moment I thought it had a sense of realism to it as if someone involved was from that world. I hope they do more.

I’m definitely in for Bosch: Legacy. I felt like they were setting something like this up in the last season of the previous show.

We have started Undone and we are loving it. Its a digitally rotoscoped animation in the style of Linklaters A Scanner Darkly. 5 Episodes in and i think the closest text it refers to is Slaughter House 5 but it really is making its own thing. I would really recommend you try it.

The William Devane plot thread on Bosch: Legacy feels like Bosch: Destinos to me.

Spoiler:

If you know, you know.

Well, on the one hand, Bosch: Legacy is trying to put itself in a post-pandemic timeline, but on the other hand (Ep 2 spoilers)...

Spoiler:

... you got Russian gangsters operating in Southern California and executing someone at a gas station with gasoline that only costs $4.29 a gallon.

Just wrapped Open Range and we LOVED this first season. Be aware that it is a slow burn mystery box show. My only worry is that the writers have no plan but we can’t wait for season 2.

Watching the tomorrow war this morning. Not very good is it? I am right now about halfway through and it’s so annoyingly inconsistent during the first big battle they unloaded for clips into these creatures in there still kept running in this latest battle they can shoot thema couple of times and the alien dies.

I think that was genuinely the worst movie I've ever seen.

PaladinTom wrote:

Just wrapped Open Range and we LOVED this first season. Be aware that it is a slow burn mystery box show. My only worry is that the writers have no plan but we can’t wait for season 2.

Yeah, I finished it yesterday. Really good, but it needs another season desperately.

tuffalobuffalo wrote:
PaladinTom wrote:

Just wrapped Open Range and we LOVED this first season. Be aware that it is a slow burn mystery box show. My only worry is that the writers have no plan but we can’t wait for season 2.

Yeah, I finished it yesterday. Really good, but it needs another season desperately.

Assuming you mean Outer Range, I enjoyed it too though the season didn't wrap up all that well. If you haven't seen Dark I'd recommend that in the meantime.

SallyNasty wrote:

I think that was genuinely the worst movie I've ever seen.

It wasn’t the best movie I’ve ever seen, but it was nowhere even in the realm of my personal worst. I’m curious if you’ve ever seen Battlefield Earth?

ComfortZone wrote:
tuffalobuffalo wrote:
PaladinTom wrote:

Just wrapped Open Range and we LOVED this first season. Be aware that it is a slow burn mystery box show. My only worry is that the writers have no plan but we can’t wait for season 2.

Yeah, I finished it yesterday. Really good, but it needs another season desperately.

Assuming you mean Outer Range, I enjoyed it too though the season didn't wrap up all that well. If you haven't seen Dark I'd recommend that in the meantime.

I watched the first episode of Outer Range and didn't find myself wanting to watch any more. Dark (Netflix), on the other hand, was fantastic.

I’ve watched the first two episodes of Outer Range. I didn’t get any Twin Peaks vibes that others mentioned. It’s more a family drama with a bit of X-files/Fringe added to it. After reading that the first season doesn’t resolve, I think I’ll hold off watching the rest until a second season presents itself.

vypre wrote:
SallyNasty wrote:

I think that was genuinely the worst movie I've ever seen.

It wasn’t the best movie I’ve ever seen, but it was nowhere even in the realm of my personal worst. I’m curious if you’ve ever seen Battlefield Earth?

I did! At least Battlefield Earth had a somewhat coherent story.

I wanted to like Outer Range more then I actually did. I don't know if it was a pacing issue or something about the way characters were written (the acting was great), but by the end of it I only really cared about Sherriff Joy. I'm really hoping that wherever they're taking the story will be somewhere original, because if it's just going to be an Americanized version of the same themes & time-travel twists that Dark had, it's not off to a good start.

Spoiler:

The reveal about Autumn's identity (which I had suspected from the start) had the opposite effect on me from the one it had on Royal, and made me dislike who she had become even more. Although I expect they'll redeem her at the start of the second season and explain that her increasingly crazy actions since Royal left her in the woods were more his fault than hers, since he burned all her medication along with the rest of her belongings in her tent and the pharmacy couldn't replace it with the exact same stuff, so the paranoia and cultish stuff was a side effect of that.

SallyNasty wrote:
vypre wrote:
SallyNasty wrote:

I think that was genuinely the worst movie I've ever seen.

It wasn’t the best movie I’ve ever seen, but it was nowhere even in the realm of my personal worst. I’m curious if you’ve ever seen Battlefield Earth?

I did! At least Battlefield Earth had a somewhat coherent story.

Ok but have either of you seen Home Fries?

I was afraid to watch The Kids in the Hall reunion series but I’m happy with how it turned out. It references itself and brings back old characters but doesn’t wallow in nostalgia, and while there are some cringe sketches I think it hits more than it misses. There’s a recurring bit in the third episode that is one of my favorite things they’ve done.

Watched The Outlaws which was very good. The ending leaves most of the secondary plot lines completely unresolved, but apparently there's a second season of it that was filmed at the same time the first season was.

Spoiler:

It makes the "everything is back to normal so let's dance" final scene feel a bit unearned as only Ravi & Ben's story has been resolved. With the jerk laywer threatening Greg, everyone but Gabby is in very real danger of having everything unravel for them.

Undone s2 was good. Its a dramatic show done in rotoscoped animation, which lets them establish a fairly realistic style and then allow surreality to seep in. Its hard to say much about it without spoilers. I'll say that a central theme of the first season is the main character (and the audience) struggling with whether what she sees is real or a symptom of her losing her grip on reality. Episodes are short and gripping. Its pretty easily to rip through it in a few sittings.

Rosa Salazar and Bob Odenkirk are great in it, Rosa as impatient force of chaos and energy, and Odenkirk as sad-dad

Outer Range is trying to be a hell of a lot of different shows - Yellowstone, Twin Peaks and The X-Files all spring to mind, and the writer has clearly watched - and been very impressed by - Dark on Netflix.

However I'm not sure it's all gelling very well, and I fear it's just a tad predictable - Is it just me or is very obvious that

Spoiler:

Autumn is a grown up Amy?

Still, 4 episodes in and it certainly isn't unwatchable. It just doesn't feel like a show that meshes the domestic dramas with the science fiction elements terribly well. It's like two shows trying to coexist in the same place.

Sorbicol wrote:

Outer Range is trying to be a hell of a lot of different shows - Yellowstone, Twin Peaks and The X-Files all spring to mind, and the writer has clearly watched - and been very impressed by - Dark on Netflix.

However I'm not sure it's all gelling very well, and I fear it's just a tad predictable - Is it just me or is very obvious that

Spoiler:

Autumn is a grown up Amy?

Still, 4 episodes in and it certainly isn't unwatchable. It just doesn't feel like a show that meshes the domestic dramas with the science fiction elements terribly well. It's like two shows trying to coexist in the same place.

Don't think it's trying to be Yellowstone. It just happens to be located on a ranch. The rest... yea very much so, and your guess is spot on. With the way they're telling the story it's a fun watch, and S2 is very much needed to clean up all the loose ends.

Still a full season behind on The Boys but the 1st was interesting