Movies/TV worth watching (or at least discussing)

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I started late (on purpose) and just finished Episode 3. Please, no spoilers!

I'm pretty thoroughly spoiled as a game player, but I've thoroughly enjoyed seeing this story come to TV. Will discuss more next week after the finale.

[duke74]

One more episode in this season of The Last of Us. Anyone else still engaged?

Yes. Has gotten better every episode and have truly enjoyed it. I am not a gamer so I did not know anything about the game that inspired this series.

I hadn’t realized that this is the last episode of the season. Too bad.

Hope this is not considered to be a spoiler.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Yes. Has gotten better every episode and have truly enjoyed it. I am not a gamer so I did not know anything about the game that inspired this series.

I hadn’t realized that this is the last episode of the season. Too bad.

Hope this is not considered to be a spoiler.

Only if someone is totally not paying attention. They announced nine episodes at the start of the season. Strange number for sure.

I suspect there will be plenty to discuss next Monday morning.

[Doria01]

One more episode in this season of The Last of Us. Anyone else still engaged?

I am, though I haven’t watched last night’s episode yet.

[duke74]

I am, though I haven’t watched last night’s episode yet.

A Monday night's routine for me.

[Skydog]

One more episode in this season of The Last of Us. Anyone else still engaged?

So engaged. I think the show is great and am sorry there is only one episode left. The writing is great and the show has a unique pacing imo. Hard to explain - the episodes connect but each individual episode takes it’s time to tell it's own little self-contained slow-burn story. And the girl is a great actress.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

So engaged. I think the show is great and am sorry there is only one episode left. It has a unique pacing imo. Hard to explain - the episodes connect but each individual episode takes it’s time to tell it's own little self-contained slow-burn story. And the girl is a great actress.

I've very much enjoyed the format. Each episode seems to look at how different people are navigating the infection, all these years later.

I think my favorite side characters were the elderly Native couple encountered briefly. They were a hoot.

[DUKIECB]

I've very much enjoyed the format. Each episode seems to look at how different people are navigating the infection, all these years later.

I think my favorite side characters were the elderly Native couple encountered briefly. They were a hoot.

Just finished this weeks episode. I love this show! That was intense! Sad there’s only one episode remaining.

I agree with what others have said about the pacing and the stories within the story. For those wondering if you need to know anything about the game I had never played it and know nothing about it so you can easily enjoy the show apart from it.

[duke74]

Just finished this weeks episode. I love this show! That was intense! Sad there’s only one episode remaining.

I agree with what others have said about the pacing and the stories within the story. For those wondering if you need to know anything about the game I had never played it and know nothing about it so you can easily enjoy the show apart from it.

I have also enjoyed the short after each episode explaining some of the emotions and objectives of the production crew. I have not played the game, so their explanations of the characters’ actions and plot twists have been helpful to me.

[Channing]

I accidentally started watching a show called "Wrong Side of the Tracks" on Netflix. Its a Spanish show with decent subtitles. Its one of the better shows I've seen recently and quite well developed.

[AGDukesky]

I have to second all the positive comments about Last of Us. Such a great show and hope the next season comes out soon!

[JasonEvans]

The best thing I can say about Champions is... at least it isn't really offensive like some Farrelly films are. It wasn't bad... but wasn't very good either. Here is my 100-word review: https://flixchat.blogspot.com/2023/0...champions.html

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

The best thing I can say about Champions is... at least it isn't really offensive like some Farrelly films are. It wasn't bad... but wasn't very good either. Here is my 100-word review: https://flixchat.blogspot.com/2023/0...champions.html

I mean, I've seen nonstop ads and it looks just horrid. It looks like they are trying to get away with making jokes at the expense of the differently abled by having differently abled people make the jokes.

I can't imagine what would make me go see that. Or why Woody would make this movie.

[brevity]

I can't imagine what would make me go see that. Or why Woody would make this movie.

Yeah, what was Woody smoking?

[Skydog]

Very late to the party: I started watching the Israeli tv series Shtisel because I had heard good things about it & bc it is leaving Netflix the 25th of this month. It centers on an ultra-Orthodox Jewish family in Israel and is about love, loss, joy, grief, family and the collision of fundamentalism with the secular world. Very well done. Loved the first season, the 2nd is also good but a bit soapy. A treat is seeing a very young Shira Haas do her magic. She is an incredible actress who had a breakout starring role in the Netflix hit Unorthodox.

[Phredd3]

The best thing I can say about Champions is... at least it isn't really offensive like some Farrelly films are. It wasn't bad... but wasn't very good either. Here is my 100-word review: https://flixchat.blogspot.com/2023/0...champions.html

Sounds like they don't understand how Special Olympics work. Now I'm scared to even go see it.

[JasonEvans]

Sounds like they don't understand how Special Olympics work. Now I'm scared to even go see it.

They don't understand how basketball works either... but neither of those really matter to the story (even though 90% of the film is shot on some basketball court).

[Phredd3]

They don't understand how basketball works either... but neither of those really matter to the story (even though 90% of the film is shot on some basketball court).

I'll try to keep an open mind, since it isn't entirely clear what they did and didn't get right. If I do decide to see it, I'll let you know if I agree.

[Steven43]

I accidentally started watching a show called "Wrong Side of the Tracks" on Netflix. It’s a Spanish show with decent subtitles. It’s one of the better shows I've seen recently and quite well developed.

Thank you for mentioning this show; I doubt I would have even known about it otherwise. My wife and I have watched the first four episodes and are enjoying it. Thanks again. 🙏

[Mal]

Each episode seems to look at how different people are navigating the infection, all these years later.

Very much agree with this, and really appreciate that aspect of the show. I've described it to others as post-post-apocalyptic, since it's set two decades after the initial event instead of right afterwards when everything is chaos. I love how they've explored several different flavors of "this is how humans might end up living" - [spoiler, I guess] we've got a military led, faintly fascistic feeling world in the Boston of the first couple episodes, isolation with no society at all with Bill and Frank, guerilla warlord stuff in Kansas City, a commune in Jackson, a religious cult in Colorado. I don't know the video game, but I suspect it's the game's structuring that led to this. Since each level in a video game is supposed to include new and different challenges for a player to size up and overcome, it was probably natural for the designers to try and make each stage of the journey a totally different navigation task. It would have been boring to just have Joel and Ellie go from one FEDRA-controlled city to another.

Anyway, I like that it's not asking the question of "What would happen if society collapsed?" and then focusing on the angles of the immediate aftermath and how survivors find one another, like most other shows/films of the genre. It's more interested in "If society collapsed would/could it ever be constructed again?" I'd love to see a season set another 20-30 years down the road when Joel's gone and perhaps Ellie's in a key position somewhere. I guess eventually you'd have to decide on one dominant social structure (or extinction), which could make it less interesting. But in the meantime there's still a lot to play with. Does anyone even want to recreate human society circa 2003? In another generation, will anyone even remember what it was like and how it was structured?