The month of October is now underway and we’re getting really busy with all the shows that we’ve been getting and the things coming up. It’s so chock full of really interesting works that I’m excited about We’re working through a couple of ongoing series that we’re reviewing with Stargirl, Star Trek: Lower Decks, What If…? and Foundation. We’ve wrapped up on Loki and Star Wars: The Bad Batch. We’re also digging into a lot of other shows, wrapping up some things and starting up a few others – or at least getting closer to start dates for some projects.
We’re keeping up with some of our favorites like Evil, See, and Ted Lasso, and a whole lot more as well.
Current Netflix queue: Rebecca, Cool Hand Luke, The Dig, Gunpowder Milkshake
HBO Max queue: David Bowie: The Last Five Years, Greenland, Zack Snyders Justice League, Bright Young Things
Hulu queue: Das Boot, Swing Things, I Kill Giants
One of the things that just wrapped up is the second season of Ted Lasso. I totally saw why people were viewing this as a weaker season than the first, but like some other second season shows we have one where it’s evolving instead of doing similar big things it did in the first. The first season was a huge introduction to something we weren’t used in the lead character while getting a familiar storyline – Major League – which in itself was subverted. This season, it was about working more toward the three-season plan by giving us the heel turn of Nate that by the end puts us in a place where we want the “reality” of the show to carry through and for Nate to not get a redemption arc. Rather, I want to see Nate realize that his anger is misplaced and he has to deal with his father instead of the father figure of Ted. It was a great slow burn storyline that evolved over the course of it all while we dealt with a huge number of other great storylines, from Ted’s anxiety with all that has gone on in his life, especially recently, as well as seeing how Roy and Keeley are so right with each other but have to face more than the usual sitcom challenges. I’m excited to see the third season and hope there will be more but will definitely feel content with just three.
In grabbing a few things on Hulu to watch while trying to scratch that romcom itch, another one was 2020’s Modern Persuasion. It is basically a Jane Austen update of Persuasion but none of that really matters. It’s a terribly flat film overall that doesn’t really deliver much and isn’t even able to make its lead, the almost always enjoyable Alicia Witt, into a low-rent Christina Hendricks type out of Mad Men, except she’s the boss. It’s all about finding love in a complicated world kind of piece but the setup and design of the world is just plain uninteresting and populated with problematic characters that wouldn’t have landed a decade ago. Which is unfortunate as I really love Liza Lapira and Daniella Pineda, and you can see the bones of a better film. The romance is flat, the humor doesn’t click for the most part, and it’s just lifeless.
The season opener of United States of Al was one that was reshot quickly as real world events necessitated that they do so after the withdrawal from Afghanistan. It focuses in a tense way on Al and others doing their best to get his sister to the Kabul airport and on a plan as she’s likely to be in real danger having worked for the UN there prior to the Taliban taking power again. It does not dig into the politics of it all but just the simple human drama that so many people went through in all of this. The show gets a lot of grief from folks that have never watched more than terrible CBS-made ads for it. I won’t call it high-end material, but it’s a solid show that has done some really strong material at times – focusing on translators last season and their importance as well as returning soldiers who are being idolized while struggling with the reality of their missions – that isn’t just “special episode” material but underlying issues facing the characters in addition to just trying to live their lives. I won’t tell anyone to watch it, but for those that do and see what it’s really doing here, especially in humanizing people for older white CBS audiences that have been brought up on a steady diet of terrorism-based shows, it’s a small crack in a problematic network.
I really wanted to like Ghosts. When i first saw the promos this summer I was like, yes, this is a show for me. Then HBO Max put the British version I was unaware of on their streaming service. And then over a few weeks, I slow-watched the 18-episodes that were produced and it grew on me. I’m always somewhat mixed on British comedy (more of a drama fan) but this one really found its footing in its second season there and just has me laughing out loud in the third season as everyone finally “got” their characters in full, writers included. So going back to the start with a new version is always hard and I knew that going into it. The CBS version is one that is moving at a much faster pace and has the expected changes that you’d get from being set in England in the countryside to upstate New York. The ghosts are obviously different in who they were and that’s generally fine. The problem that I really ran into beyond the pacing being so far is that, as expected, it’s just so filled with pretty people. now, I’ll admit McIver was a huge driver of interest as I loved her in iZombie, but once past her, all of the ghosts are Hollywood attractive. No unexpected, but after going through the other version with people of all types of looks and bodies, getting this almost completely thin and coiffed cast of characters just heights how out of touch it is. It’s too polished when it needs to be anything but.
In catching up on older things that I’ve got in my collection that I’ve revisited while working while trying to avoid streaming so as to not use up my data cap, it’s an odd mix this week. Over the course of the week, I’ve background watched:
- Mortal Engines
- Wildlife
- Get Smart
Movie reviews this year:
- Black Widow
- Jungle Cruise Review
- As the Village Sleeps Review
- Space Jam: A New Legacy Review
- A Quiet Place Part II Review
- Knots: A Forced Marriage Story Review
- School-Live! The Movie Blu-ray Review
- In the Heights Review
- Over the Moon Review
- Feeling Through Review
- Two Distant Strangers review
- Yes-People Review
- A Love Song for Latasha Review
- If Anything Happens I Love You Review
- Burrow Review
- Godzilla vs Kong
- Happy Happy Joy Joy: The Ren & Stimpy Story Review
- Kamp Koral: SpongeBob’s Under Years Preview
- Raya and the Last Dragon Review
- The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge on the Run Review
- The Little Things Review
- In Other Words Review
- Earwig and the Witch Review
What did you watch this past week?
