I found a documentary on Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields on Netflix the other night – worth a watch if you like his stuff (here’s a sample). What’s everybody been watching lately?
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Come for the politics, stay for the snark.
Baby steps, because the Republican Party is full of angry babies.
The arc of history bends toward the same old fuckery.
Reality always lies in wait for … Democrats.
This fight is for everything.
My right to basic bodily autonomy is not on the table. that’s the new deal.
So many bastards, so little time.
I’d hate to be the candidate who lost to this guy.
You are so fucked. Still, I wish you the best of luck.
Innocent people don’t delay justice.
… pundit janitors mopping up after the gop
“The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.”
I’m starting to think Jesus may have made a mistake saving people with no questions asked.
If you can’t control your emotions, someone else will.
You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.
A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.
In my day, never was longer.
Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.
if you can’t see it, then you are useless in the fight to stop it.
Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.
The party of Reagan has become the party of Putin.
“Just close your eyes and kiss the girl and go where the tilt-a-whirl takes you.” ~OzarkHillbilly
DeSantis transforming Florida into 1930s Germany with gators and theme parks.
Russian mouthpiece, go fuck yourself.
“Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on.”
Chris
My latest find is Burn Notice. It’s a spy show and a current one (still on the air) but it’s lighthearted, doesn’t take itself too seriously, none of the drama from Alias or the grittiness from 24. Actually feels like an eighties show, sort of a cross between Magnum P.I. (private detective type living in a tropical paradise), the A-Team (government operative gets disavowed and makes a living helping people) and MacGyver (all the homemade gadgets and the voiceover to explain them all). And yes, “eighties show” is a compliment coming from me.
Otherwise… I never thanked the Balloon Juicers who recommended Spooks/MI-5 (another spy show) or Angel, so let me take the opportunity to do that now, whoever you were. Those are two good finds.
Polish the Guillotines
I’ve been working my way through The Rockford Files. So great in so many ways.
arguingwithsignposts
There are a lot of great documentaries out there on NF atm. The Pruitt-Igoe Myth, for instance, is very powerful.
piratedan
Just picked up James Burke’s Connections again for a reviewing.
rikyrah
@Chris:
glad to know you’ve found Burn Notice and MI-5
Yutsano
@piratedan: I. LOVE. THAT. SHOW!! Such a great perspective on learning and discovery.
Unabogie
There was a really great British sci-fi show called Outcasts that only lasted 8 shows. I was really enjoying it.
Jericho is fun.
Not a series, but Griff the Invisible is a very good Australian film about a nerdy dude who fights crime after work, starring the guy who plays Jason Stackhouse on True Blood. Kind of touching, yet funny.
NotMax
Aussie series Wild Boys, set in 1860s Australia.
Polish the Guillotines
@piratedan: Connections is outstanding. So is his other series, The Day the Universe Changed. His stuff is a real treasure.
Villago Delenda Est
@Yutsano:
What Yutsano said. Fascinating. The Day the Universe Changed is also great stuff, more James Burke.
donnah
I love Magnetic Fields! Absolutely Cuckoo is my favorite song from 69 Love Songs. Catchy and hilarious, too.
Love Burn Notice, too, waiting for the New season to see what happens after the cliffhanger. Also a big fan of Suits, White Collar, and Psyche.
Arm The Homeless
I watched Art of the Steal last night. What great documentary. Plus it confirms my bias against the Annenberg Fund.
Big ups to whoever mentioned a while back about the BBC show Survivors. I was pleased with the series.
Futurama’s 6th season is up as well as that police reality show, Rookies.
Chris
@rikyrah:
Thanks, so am I!
And the following quote partly explains why:
“The fact is, torture is for sadists and thugs. It’s like getting groceries with a flame thrower: it doesn’t work, and it makes a mess.” (Voiceover in the episode I’m currently watching).
Sweet Jesus, that’s refreshing. Where have they been hiding this show?
NotMax
If I may be so bold as to make a recommendation, for those who might never have seen it the series I, Claudius (Derek Jacobi, Brian Blessed, Siân Phillips, Patrick Stewart, John Hurt), made in the late 70s, is one of my all-time TV faves.
Steeplejack
A guilty pleasure: Hallmark Movie Channel has been running the original Perry Mason series two episodes a day (noon and 1:00 p.m. EDT Monday-Friday), and I’ve been recording and watching a lot of those. I find myself looking up on IMDB the (often fascinating) mini-biographies of the mostly forgotten actors who were on the show. And of course every so often a big star will pop up early in his or her career. James Coburn has been on twice lately–got murdered both times–and a very young Burt Reynolds was on the other day. I kept flashing to him in Boogie Nights. Go figure.
And just yesterday I found this hilarious database of pictures of the actors. There are so many that you recognize by sight from old TV shows but never knew by name.
TBS used to show Perry Mason in the early ’90s, and I used to watch it then while I was doing consulting and freelance programming. The attraction for me was Mason’s complete unflappability and the fact that money was never an issue: he was always doing pro bono work for hapless clients or some mogul was flinging money and/or blank checks at him to defend a daughter/niece/ward/whatever. I wanted my business to be like that. LOL.
The other thing that’s cool about the current run is that they’re showing the episodes in chronological order. Monday is “The Case of the Bogus Books” from September 1962. Who’s in it? Adam West. Batman!
Polish the Guillotines
@Steeplejack: That database is incredible. Sign of the times: I counted 6 African-American actors in that entire gallery.
Spotted: Robert Redford. Wow.
Provider_UNE
Annular Solar Eclipse today (actually this afternoon and early evening for most of the lucky ones in its path, Those of you not so lucky might catch a partial eclipse (still a very cool thing) and you can follow the whole shebang onlinehere
Also, too, a Transit of Venus on 5/6 June, just a bit over two weeks away. there will not be another one until december 2117, and I doubt that any of us will still be clinging to a mortal coil by then.
WereBear
Burn Notice is like Mission: Impossible and and Get Smart had a baby. Who took after the one parent. And it has Bruce Campbell; all I need!
I blew the money from a recent freelance gig on MST collections and Terry Jones on history series.Mr WereBear likes watching good things over and over than gambling on new things when he doesn’t feel well. Works for me.
Jeff
Just watched two very good movies on Netflix: A Russian film called “The Island” and an independent film called Transsiberian.
I recommend both.
Jeff
Tony J
I’ve heard very good things about Spooks for years now, but it’s one of those shows that never seems to get repeated on terrestrial TV. At some point I’m going to have to track it down and find an angle to convince “She Who Holds The Remote” that it could be our new ‘House’ or ‘Being Human’.
Speaking of which, if you’ve come to love ‘Angel’ as much as I do (which is a lot, as in – better than BTVS IMHO YMMV) give the British version of ‘Being Human’ a try. A vampire, a ghost and a werewolf living together while trying – and failing – to live ‘normal’ lives. There’s an American version out there, but as with ‘Life on Mars’, that may not be a good thing.
Steeplejack
@Polish the Guillotines:
Yeah. There was a black actor within the last week who had a tiny part as the medical examiner who testified for about 30 seconds at the start of the courtroom phase, and I remember thinking that there had been more Asian actors than that on the show in the last couple of months.
Tony J
If you ever get the chance try to catch ‘Rare Exports’, a Finnish/Norwegian (I think) move that, how do I put this? Has a slightly different spin on Santa and his elfs than the one you may be familiar with.
Arclite
Netflix Streaming: Speaking of Burn Notice, I just finished watching Archer, an animated spoof of the spy genre. Don’t be fooled by the animation: this is an adult show full of sex, death, and adult humor. Highly rec’d and hilarious.
Speaking of comedy, if you have never seen Arrested Development, what are you waiting for? It’s pretty much the best comedy of the last decade, and absolutely brilliant.
And no streaming rec list would be complete without pimping the BBC Sherlock series. Short, but oh so sweet, Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman are great in this well-written modern update to the classic detective series.
Netflix Disc: Game of Thrones has been waitlisted for weeks. :(
Torchlight 2 beta: I’ve been doing this for most of the weekend, and it’s fantastic. Even though it’s a beta, the code is rock-solid, and I haven’t had any issues on my 5 year old machine. Essentially, TL2 is Diablo 2 with WoW graphics and some very nice editions like pets.
As far as I know they are still handing out beta passes. Go create a Runic games account. Then create a Runic forum account (click Register). Then link the first account to the second one via the settings or something. Shortly after that, you should get a beta code. The game is small, it took me only an hour on my crappy DSL cnx to get the whole thing. The game is multi only for the beta, but just create a game with a PW, and don’t tell anyone, and you can play alone.
patrick II
I highly recommend the documentary “Between the Folds”, a documentary about origami. The origami shown in this film is so far removed from the paper cranes we usually think of it is barely recognizable. The film delves into both the beauty and mathematics of modern origami.
cat
The video is NSFW if you have a strange workplace that still lets you goto youtube.
Cbass
Two words: Stargate Universe. Thank you Netfix!
Chris
@Tony J:
I ignored Angel because I just couldn’t get into Buffy even though I tried several times, and wasn’t looking for more of the same. Pleased to say I agree with your assessment. I may give “Being Human” a try, too.
@Cbass:
Really, you liked Universe? May I ask why? Not trying to put you on the defensive, I’m genuinely curious since everyone I know thought it was a flop (including me, and SG-1 is pretty much my favorite TV show ever).
rikyrah
anyone here watch the BBCAmerica show Hex?
loved it
rikyrah
I always have to recommend a show that was ahead of it’s time.
I believe if it had been on HBO or Showtime just a year and a half later, we would just be talking about it’s end.
that show is PROFIT.
I was among the 1,000 people in America that loved that show. it didn’t get the chance to develop a true cult following,but I loved it and it was brilliant.
piratedan
@Tony J: yes, MI-5 is definitely worth the time, handles nuance and shades of grey and doubt extremely well and they have no qualms about killing off their cast members upon need, which is both saddening and realistic.
@Chris: yeah, I echo your SGU doubts, I really wanted to like it but I found it extremely irritating when common sense couldn’t be found or voiced from a single character over the first three episodes and dropped it.
If you’re a game show aficionado, I would recommend finding the show Pointless if u can
Joseph Nobles
Everyone knows the full run of Dark Shadows is on Netflix right now? OK.
I’m going to have to catch I, Claudius one more time. John Hurt’s Caligula is da bomb, among all the great goodness in that show.
lawtalkinguy
Being Human, the English version.