The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

Streaming TV

What have you been watching? Including Hawkeye, Hot Zone: Anthrax, Titans and Lost in Space

20 December 2021 Rob Buckley 9 Comments

It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week

I’ve been goaded. Well, prodded really. There were some actual movie reviews last week, so I guess I’d better do some TV reviews. Apparently, that’s what TMINE’s supposed to be for. Tarnation.

Fortunately, I’ve been watching a decent amount of TV, so I won’t simply be doing shadow puppets for you and pretending that it’s a review for this last WHYBW of 2021.

First up, the return of two regulars, and then after the jump, we can talk about two new shows: Hawkeye (Disney+) and Hot Zone: Anthrax (Disney+)

Lost in Space (season 3) (Netflix)

Lost in Space (Netflix) is back for its third and final season… and I’m confused. Every season more or less is a build up to showing us how the Space Family Robinson got ‘lost in space’ with the evil Doctor Smith (Parker Posey). It then ends with them… ‘lost in space’. And then with the next season, it resets and we have to watch them get lost in space all over again.

Season two ended especially well in that regard. They’re on the spaceship, they’re there with the robot and evil Dr Smith, they don’t know where they are but they are in the middle of space, nowhere near anyone else or a planet that looks a lot like Canada.

Good build-up. Surely they’re not going to reset again are they?

Well, hot damn. Guess what? Season three starts with them all stuck on yet another planet that looks like Canada with all the other kids. Again. What the hell? Even if we hadn’t already had a show that’s almost exactly the same as that (The 100), why are we doing it for the third season in a row for Lost in Space?

I managed to watch about two episodes before I just gave up. I’ve now seen this story twice – I don’t need to see it for a third time. And can’t the whole family actually be in the same place together for so much as an entire episode?

Titans (US: HBO Max; UK: Netflix)

You probably won’t remember this – why would you? – but I made it through the first four episodes of season three of Titans back in September, then gave up as it was so horrid and all the characters I cared about got killed off.

Well, it’s comics, so guess what? One of them came back from the dead, it turned out, something I discovered this weekend, so I figured that as this was now on Netflix in the UK, I’d give it a rewatch from the point from when said character returns.

So… episodes nine through 13 of Titans are bad. Not outright terrible, but pretty close. It’s all meaningless, inconsequential namechecking of comic characters but none of the characters act like either themselves or even slightly coherently thought-out human beings (or aliens). The acting seems to have got a lot worse, too, and the fights don’t have that grittiness to them that they used to. What it does have is trite teen romances and outright sadism.

I would say that if I was looking for positives, seeing (spoiler alert) the Amazons, as well as Donna Troy and Raven again was great, as they were by far the most interesting characters and interpretations of DC lore. But it’s all just so comic-strippy, so lacking in any real depth, and actually downright silly at times that it just felt like I was losing IQ points watching it.

Plus how high-stake are your perils when at least half the cast have died and come back?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ttU1iKSpdA
Continue reading “What have you been watching? Including Hawkeye, Hot Zone: Anthrax, Titans and Lost in Space”
Mythic Quest
Streaming TV

What have you been watching? Including Mythic Quest

26 April 2021 Rob Buckley 11 Comments

It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week

Last week, WHYBW pulled a sickie, thanks to the Covid vaccination giving me possibly the worst illness I’ve had in years. I’m better now, but not looking forward to number two in July… Thankfully, invalidity still didn’t stop me from watching TV, so I’m up to date with pretty much everything.

Debris (US: NBC) has continued to be pleasantly unpleasant. Although each episode still ends with some heartwarming proof of the delights of human nature, it’s usually accompanied by something horribly unpleasant and some Fringe cast-offs, such as (spoiler alert) a telekinetic/telepathic girl ramming a relative’s head into some metal shards to stop him using his own mind-control to get our heroes to shoot themselves . There’s also lots of distrust and backstabbing, and the effects of the miraculous space debris seem largely to be settling down on things passing through other things – with suitably biologically unpleasant results.

The Falcon and The Winter Soldier (Disney+) concluded with accompanying name change (no, no spoilers) in a slightly odd way, it has to be said. A magnificent speech and the bits in the Smithsonian were desperately moving, but the final half seemed more like an effort to set up about half a dozen spin-off shows and movies than a decent denouement. Plus for a show called The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, there really wasn’t much Winter Soldier this episode.

For All Mankind (Apple TV+) also had a very moving as well as exciting season finale. Lots of soapiness in the preceding episodes that was very draining and slowing of the plot, but how can you knock (spoiler alert) Moon War! and its own outer space version of the Cuban Missile Crisis but in the 80s? Plus props for references to Space: 1999. All in all, not as good a second season as the first and everything sort of petered out with various storylines, such as Molly’s medical condition, but I imagine season three will pick that up. All I can say is, thank God we’re into the 1990s now. I’m so sick of 80s nostalgia and period pieces.

Last up, we had the return of Mythic Quest (Apple TV+). Not 100% inspiring this one, which I think was written by one of the cast members and saw our heroes and heroines return to the office after a year of Covid for their annual pick-me-up LARP party, only for it to go disastrously wrong. Some good chuckles to be had nevertheless and some nicely cynical moments. Also surprisingly big budget, as we entered actual fantasy sequences towards with some solid effects, and with a surprise guest voiceover by Anthony Hopkins. But I’m hoping the series-proper is a little bit more focused on the bad behaviour and the niceties of game design than this ep was.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EEtkCO2GG-c

But what did you watch?

Streaming TV

What have you been watching?

13 April 2021 Rob Buckley 7 Comments

It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week

I’ve watched just two things, both of them regulars, since last week: Debris, and The Falcon and The Winter Soldier. I blame Easter and taking a couple of weeks off. I’ve not even watched last week’s For All Mankind.

Debris was good, but was more a spy versus spy than a fringe science thing, so possibly the show’s first ‘not that great’ episode, although it was good for what it was – I’ll watch last night’s episode later this week.

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier seems to be hitting its stride now, which given it’s only six episodes long is a bit belated but has given us some good fight scenes, as well as (spoiler alert) Wakandans. This week’s ep did have a bit of a lull in the middle, though, and we did get a ‘really? In 2021?’ moment when (spoiler alert) the Black sidekick got killed to give the anti-hero a reason to go mental . But the second half was a solidly intense bit of superheroic (and not so heroic) fighting. Plus we got the Zemo dance

Still, fingers crossed, I might actually watch something this week.

But what did you watch?

Nosferatu
Streaming TV

What have you been watching? Including Nosferatu and Vampyr

29 March 2021 Rob Buckley 24 Comments

It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week

It’s been a quiet week for TV, less for movies at TMINE. TV-wise, it’s just been the regulars: For All Mankind, Debris, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier and Superman and Lois. And they’ve all been fine.

The cosmonauts in FAM made the show more interesting than previous weeks, but not greatly so, and the changing attitudes to gay relationships in a little over a decade was well happened; Debris was more scary science with everyone in boiler suits, which was good; TFatWS was better than the first episode, funnier, with some interesting things to say about race, thanks to good old Carl Lumbly (Alias) and the arrival in the MCU of (spoiler alert) Isaiah Bradley; and Superman and Lois was alternately exciting and tear-jerking, thanks to the return of Airwolf‘s very own Michele Scarabelli as Martha Kent.

All good viewing, all staying on the recommended list, but nothing that made punch the air or something. It should be noted, however, that Superman & Lois isn’t back until May now, since Supergirl has now got its timeslot. How odd.

Movies-wise, I got about halfway through The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020), but was a bit disappointed by the lack of scorching Aaron Sorkin dialogue. Good cast and I might try to watch the rest of it, but I’m not enthused.

I did manage to watch all of LA LA Land (2016), in which tedious Ryan Gosling tries to explain the joys of jazz to Emma Stone. Hated it. Lovely song and dance numbers, beautiful design, but you’ll want to kill Gosling by the end of it.

Meanwhile, a couple of classic German black and white movies were leaving MUBI so I figured I should try to watch them while they were still on: Vampyr (1932) and Nosferatu (1922). Nosferatu is the more famous but while it’s a visually stunning adaptation of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, with some truly iconic moments, it’s not a great movie. Plus the soundtrack given to this silent movie for the MUBI release was borderline comic. It would have been about a thousand times better with the soundtrack on this trailer.

Vampyr is a slightly more haunting affair based on elements from J Sheridan Le Fanu’s In a Glass Darkly. Again, visually great but with a plot that doesn’t make a whole lot of sense.

I think it’s worth watching them both to say you’ve watched these two foundational movies, but don’t go in thinking you’re going to be thunderstruck by how awesome they are.

All in all, not a bad week of viewing, more an uninspiring one, if you see what I mean?

But what did you watch?

Streaming TV

What have you been watching? Including Justice League: The Snyder Cut, Superman & Lois, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier

22 March 2021 Rob Buckley 5 Comments

It’s “What have you been watching?”, your chance to recommend to fellow TMINE readers anything you’ve been watching this week

Hello! How you all doing? Good week? Looking forward to springtime and being able to see other human beings again soon (albeit outdoors and at a distance)? That’s great!

But until then, let’s talk about what we’ve been doing indoors – watching streaming TV and movies. Of the usual things, I’ve been both slacking and catching up. Lovely wife continues to enjoy Young Rock (US: NBC), but I’ve given up on it. I might watch future episodes out the corner of my eye again, but it’s not what I’m going to be calling a regular.

Debris remains enjoyable for all the reasons I mentioned last week. This week, though, we got our first hint of how the alien tech works, as well as some of the darker sides of the various conspiracies going on. Enjoying it still! Yay!

However, For All Mankind (Apple TV+) seems to have put itself on the back burner, since I’ve not watched the latest two episodes. Bad TMINE. I’ll get round to them this week, I reckon.

But let’s talk about some ‘new’ things after the jump. In films, out last week was the ‘Snyder Cut’ of Justice League (2017), which is possibly the most different director’s cut of a movie you’ll ever see, as well as possibly the best superhero movie ever made (but probably isn’t).

Talking of superheroes, coming to Disney+ on Friday was the latest MCU TV series, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which sees the two eponymous heroes dealing with PTSD, bank loans and finding purpose in life now that Steve Rogers/Captain America is no more.

And lastly, I realised I’d forgotten all about Superman & Lois (US: The CW)! Worse than that, I actually watched the first episode three weeks ago and then just forgot to review it! So I’ve been playing catch-up with that. We can talk about all four episodes after the jump, too.

But also, tell me what you’ve been watching, too, please

However, I have watched new things!

Continue reading “What have you been watching? Including Justice League: The Snyder Cut, Superman & Lois, and The Falcon and the Winter Soldier”