Hidden Gems of Amazon Prime instant videos

LeapingGnome wrote:

Mario, you haven't watched Doctor Who? I think you should, just start with the 'new' series that began in 2005 and work your up, I think you'll like them. They used to have them on Amazon, not sure if they still do.

I've never seen a single episode of Doctor Who in any of its incarnations. Shame on me, I know! I'll add it to my list of things to watch, because I also think I would like it!

Yeah 05 with Eccleston is a great jumping on point. Some excellent arcs and recurring characters. Great stuff for several years.

Plus you get to go through what we've all been through with new doctors. Hey Eccleston is good at this. Oh no David Tennant is amazing. They could never replace him. Oh sh*t wait maybe Matt Smith is even better...

It's a wild ride.

Hahaha. Sounds like fun!

I disagree. To fully enjoy and understand Doctor Who, you have to binge all 871 episodes. Preferably do it the same weekend so you can make sure you remember everything.

kuddles wrote:

I disagree. To fully enjoy and understand Doctor Who, you have to binge all 871 episodes. Preferably do it the same weekend so you can make sure you remember everything.

That's kinda how I did out, other than the weekend part, and not seeing a bunch of the "missing" early episodes. It took us a few months of watching a couple episodes nightly to go all the way from An Unearthly Child to Peter Capaldi.

One benefit was that it was a long time when we did not have to have the daily discussion of "what do you want to watch tonight?"

I had a girlfriend in HS (mid-1980s) who was very much into Who and wanted to knit me a Tom Baker scarf. I think my lack of interest in it at the time was a contributing factor to her preferring to be my ex-girlfriend.

Doctor Who fandom is an STD. If you're not born with it, you can only get it by sleeping with someone who has it.

hbi2k wrote:

Doctor Who fandom is an STD. If you're not born with it, you can only get it by sleeping with someone who has it.

That may in fact be true; I just did not get the infection from that particular person.

Stele wrote:

Yeah 05 with Eccleston is a great jumping on point. Some excellent arcs and recurring characters. Great stuff for several years.

Plus you get to go through what we've all been through with new doctors. Hey Eccleston is good at this. Oh no David Tennant is amazing. They could never replace him. Oh sh*t wait maybe Matt Smith is even better...

But, Eccleston was amazing. And Tennant is good, but he's no Eccleston. And Matt Smith is a fine actor and all, but he's nowhere near as appealing at Tennant.

Hot Take: The real problem is that the writing/showrunning just goes downhill after the 2005 reboot. Capaldi probably could have been a Doctor to rival Eccleston, but the showrunners didn't know how to use him. Jodie Whittaker probably could have been a decent Doctor with different showrunners.

Mainly, I'm an Eccleston fan because he's the only one who credibly came across as being actually crazy/dangerous.

Versus for me, Eccleston is the one I liked the least.

LeapingGnome wrote:

Versus for me, Eccleston is the one I liked the least.

John Hurt was far and away the best doctor.

Clumber wrote:
LeapingGnome wrote:

Versus for me, Eccleston is the one I liked the least.

John Hurt was far and away the best doctor.

Yes, though I'm not a fan of his method of regeneration.

IMAGE(https://media.tenor.com/IhD3AArG4hwAAAAC/spaceballs-alien.gif)

We finally caught up with Rings of Power. I found the start to be rather dull. Basically everything up to the moment

Spoiler:

Galadriel jumps off the ship

left me disinterested. But I'm glad I kept watching because it really picked up.

Having read the Silmarillion, I found it tough to stop myself from dropping various lore bombs on my wife.

I’m curious how they were able to infer enough material from the trilogy (not sure if they also have license to use The Hobbit) to make a whole show. I was looking forward to an even deeper dive into historical material, as I’m someone who’s wanted to read but had not read The Silmarillion, but I liked the vibe they hit.

muraii wrote:

I’m curious how they were able to infer enough material from the trilogy (not sure if they also have license to use The Hobbit) to make a whole show. I was looking forward to an even deeper dive into historical material, as I’m someone who’s wanted to read but had not read The Silmarillion, but I liked the vibe they hit.

as others have said, because of the way Tolkien's estate sell the rights to what he wrote, Amazon only actually have the rights to the Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and the LotR appendices. They have built the Rings of Power from the appendices.

They're appendices - detail in a lot of places is light to non-existent. They can't use The Silmarillion (which itself is more a collection of short stories than it is a coherent narrative arch for a lot of sections) because they don't have the rights. So they have "extrapolated" (made up) a great deal of it and filled in the voids in other places.

That said what they have done is certainly not held back with the ambition of what they decided to do. It doesn't always work for sure, and they have compressed the timelines a great deal - understandably so for a TV show, and played around with who is who and where some of them are supposed to be as a consequence of that a little, and so it doesn't really always work.

It wasn't nearly as bad as some of the hatch job reviews I read, but it isn't on the level of Peter Jackson's effort either.

It's alot better than that Wheel of Time show though.

It's interesting that (if I remember correctly) the Silmarils were specifically mentioned by name.

The two trees are mentioned but Ungoliant is not.

The LOTR books have a lot of narrative references to earlier ages, such as in The Council of Elrond. There's enough there, and in the Appendices, to extrapolate second age history without the need for the Silmarillion.

The RoP's departure from lore was a choice, not due to lack of source material. That said, I don't have a problem with what they came up with. I agree that it's better than their Wheel of Time series.

It's also worth noting that what got them permission from the Tolkein estate to do the show in the first place was to promise them input on whatever story they ended up telling. The Tolkein estate are consultants on the show (though they're mostly concerned with navigating the rights issue of what the show can and cannot use), with Simon Tolkein (JRR's grandson) as the main liason. So all the changes are somewhat approved by the Tolkein Estate, or at least, they're not opposed to them like they were with the changes made in Jackson's movies. The time compression in particular has been mentioned as a change that was approved by the estate.

Dave Made a Maze is a very creative and fun movie!

I’m beginning to cool on The Peripheral. Is it just me?

The present day stuff was compelling enough, but is already starting to repeat itself. And the future stuff is just treading water. Unless I missed it, I can’t even say what’s going on beyond (still) looking for a missing person.

Maybe it's my attention span lately, but I’m starting to feel worn out by the current television series format: Start strong with the first episode or two, coast along for several, and then have a big final episode with a cliffhanger for a subsequent season that may or may not happen.

A LOT of shows I’ve watched would’ve been better as a two hour movie, or even a tight six-episode mini series.

Repeat in what way?

ranalin wrote:

Repeat in what way?

Spoiler:

The second attack on Flynne - with a piss poor “surgical” strike by the specialist.

PaladinTom wrote:

I’m beginning to cool on The Peripheral. Is it just me?

The present day stuff was compelling enough, but is already starting to repeat itself. And the future stuff is just treading water. Unless I missed it, I can’t even say what’s going on beyond (still) looking for a missing person.

Maybe it's my attention span lately, but I’m starting to feel worn out by the current television series format: Start strong with the first episode or two, coast along for several, and then have a big final episode with a cliffhanger for a subsequent season that may or may not happen.

A LOT of shows I’ve watched would’ve been better as a two hour movie, or even a tight six-episode mini series.

I've watched the first three or four episodes, and... I just like it okay. It seems like there is both too much and not enough going on at all times. I have not been in a rush to continue... and I barely remember how the last episode ended.

I'm still enjoying it, especially since Lowbeer has appeared. I'm a big fan of the book, so that helps orient me (even though they are only using the premise and characters of the book, and not the plot).

I'm hoping they aren't attempting to get multiple series out of this, but I have the feeling they aren't going to complete it in one season at this rate - it does seem to be moving more slowly than the book (which only follows Wilf and Flynne, so lots of plot happens offscreen to other characters which we're seeing here).

Watched "Unhuman" which was an okay attempt to turn "The Breakfast Club" into a zombie slasher...

The hair and makeup person should be fired. (not the zombie effects artist)

polq37 wrote:

Hot Take: The real problem is that the writing/showrunning just goes downhill after the 2005 reboot. Capaldi probably could have been a Doctor to rival Eccleston, but the showrunners didn't know how to use him.

I daresay that's incorrect. While his last season was sort of a "the next showrunner's still tied up, can you do one more?", most of Season 9 (including the aforementioned Heaven Sent), is prime Capaldi. And who doesn't love Bill?

PaladinTom wrote:
ranalin wrote:

Repeat in what way?

Spoiler:

The second attack on Flynne - with a piss poor “surgical” strike by the specialist.

Spoiler:

yet that's the story as we know it... They have said repeatedly they will try and kill her till they get what they want. They're trying to survive the attacks while figuring everything out. It also wasn't that piss poor... sh*t happens to everyone.

DudleySmith wrote:

I'm still enjoying it, especially since Lowbeer has appeared. I'm a big fan of the book, so that helps orient me (even though they are only using the premise and characters of the book, and not the plot).

I'm hoping they aren't attempting to get multiple series out of this, but I have the feeling they aren't going to complete it in one season at this rate - it does seem to be moving more slowly than the book (which only follows Wilf and Flynne, so lots of plot happens offscreen to other characters which we're seeing here).

We're getting a lot of backstory that's not in the book

PaladinTom wrote:

I’m beginning to cool on The Peripheral. Is it just me?

The present day stuff was compelling enough, but is already starting to repeat itself. And the future stuff is just treading water. Unless I missed it, I can’t even say what’s going on beyond (still) looking for a missing person.

Maybe it's my attention span lately, but I’m starting to feel worn out by the current television series format: Start strong with the first episode or two, coast along for several, and then have a big final episode with a cliffhanger for a subsequent season that may or may not happen.

A LOT of shows I’ve watched would’ve been better as a two hour movie, or even a tight six-episode mini series.

Yeah I have definitely cooled on it since the first couple of episodes. The pacing feels really off compared to the book as I remember it. I will keep watching though, high hopes for Lowbeer although she has shown up late!

ComfortZone wrote:
PaladinTom wrote:

I’m beginning to cool on The Peripheral. Is it just me?

The present day stuff was compelling enough, but is already starting to repeat itself. And the future stuff is just treading water. Unless I missed it, I can’t even say what’s going on beyond (still) looking for a missing person.

Maybe it's my attention span lately, but I’m starting to feel worn out by the current television series format: Start strong with the first episode or two, coast along for several, and then have a big final episode with a cliffhanger for a subsequent season that may or may not happen.

A LOT of shows I’ve watched would’ve been better as a two hour movie, or even a tight six-episode mini series.

Yeah I have definitely cooled on it since the first couple of episodes. The pacing feels really off compared to the book as I remember it. I will keep watching though, high hopes for Lowbeer although she has shown up late!

Wait. Lowbeer shows up earlier in the book? I’m gonna have to read the book aren’t I?

I enjoyed week’s episode.

Billings as Lowbeer is magnificent!