What are you watching

[Phishfan]

I'm currently on season two of Severance. I watched the first episode of Sugar last night. I'm also on season three of Yellowjackets. I recently went on a Billy Bob Thornton kick and watched Landman and binged Goliath. As always I'm keeping my eye out for documentaries. What about you?

[Dave Gray]

I have watched all 50 films nominated for any Oscar.  The ceremony is Sunday.  But I got a good head start, so this year was easy.

I am also watching movies from my movie book.  I am currently in 1969, so I finally saw Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider, both of which I saw a lot of good in.

Phish, if you're looking for random documentaries, try to find: Anvil: The Story of Anvil (I don't think it's streaming but you can rent it for .99) and The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters (free now on Amazon Prime).

If you're getting into documentaries, I think it's key that you not think about whether or not you're interested in the subject matter.  Many times, the best things are specifically things you're not interested in.  I also, personally, was very changed by a movie on Netflix called Crip Camp, but I seem to love that more than everyone else.  The first two, I think have broad appeal.

[CF DolFan]

I am also watching movies from my movie book.  I am currently in 1969, so I finally saw Midnight Cowboy and Easy Rider, both of which I saw a lot of good in.

Both of those movies hold special places for me. My first name is Dustin named after Hoffman. I was born shortly after TMC came out. I literally thought my name was the Midnight Cowboy for several years as my older siblings called me that. Thank goodness I didn't know it was a male prostitute ... hahha. I was very young when I saw Easy Rider and thanks to the acid tripping scene in the graveyard, it kept me away from drugs. As a kid, that scene freaked me out.

[Phishfan]

Midnight Cowboy I basically only remember the plot. Easy Rider was one I watched doing drugs. I saw both in my 20s.

I just started the first episode of season 2 1923

[CF DolFan]

I just started the first episode of season 2 1923

We did too. I am a Taylor Sheridan slut I guess as we watch all of his shows including the reality show The Last Cowboy.

[Dave Gray]

I watched the first episode of Yellowstone and I can recognize that it's interesting.  I like the premise and the setting and everything, but I found it hard to find a character that I enjoyed watching.  I would even say "a character to root for", but even that's too specific.  I just chalked it up that it was probably a good show, but just not for me.

I had a similar reaction to Succession after one episode, but went back and tried again months later after everyone said how great it was.  And my reaction after one episode, again, was kind of the same, but after a few, I started to pick up on the vibe of the show and I ended up loving it.  I don't think you really root for characters in that show, but kinda like Game of Thrones, you recognize and appreciate their path to power.  You end up loving characters that you would loathe as people.

Maybe one of these days I'll give Yellowstone another go.

[CF DolFan]

I watched the first episode of Yellowstone and I can recognize that it's interesting.  I like the premise and the setting and everything, but I found it hard to find a character that I enjoyed watching.  I would even say "a character to root for", but even that's too specific.  I just chalked it up that it was probably a good show, but just not for me.

I had a similar reaction to Succession after one episode, but went back and tried again months later after everyone said how great it was.  And my reaction after one episode, again, was kind of the same, but after a few, I started to pick up on the vibe of the show and I ended up loving it.  I don't think you really root for characters in that show, but kinda like Game of Thrones, you recognize and appreciate their path to power.  You end up loving characters that you would loathe as people.

Maybe one of these days I'll give Yellowstone another go.

I think Yellowstone is like a lot of other series. You have to watch several before you start getting hooked. It's kind of hard to be sympathetic to people you just met. I think we watched the first one and didn't start watching again until Season 3. It was then that we started binging it and got hooked.

I've been watching Cobra Kai, School Spirit, Dexter Original Sin, and Beast Games but we just started watching Jack Ryan Season 4.

[Fau Teixeira]

I've been watching the latest season of Reacher, after finishing up lower decks with my son.

[Spider-Dan]

Gonna do a bit of an exposition dump on some backstory here:

In 2023, I decided that I was done paying Sony ~$50/year for the PlayStation Plus service that allows you to play PS games online, when I can play the same games online for free on PC (Steam).  So instead of buying a PS5, I bought a Steam Deck, as well as massively upgrading my 10-year-old gaming PC.

Now, when you subscribe to PS+, you get to add 2-3 selected games to your account for "free" each month, which you can download and play for as long as you're subscribed.  Since my subscription was going to expire in April 2024, in summer 2023 I went through a list of all the games I had temporary access to, and made a list of those I wanted to play before my sub expired.  On PS4, I played through and finished:

- Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order
- Final Fantasy VII Remake
- Neon Chrome (got 100% on this one)
- Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris

I tried to play The Last of Us Remastered and Need For Speed Heat, but didn't care for them.

So last April when I wrapped up that project, I decided to start a new one... watch a new episode of TV every day.  And an important rule: no bingeing!  It should be one episode per day, no more no less (though I did have to watch two or three episodes to catch up when I missed some days).  I made a list of 55(!) TV series I had some level of interest in seeing.

I ended up watching:

- Secret Invasion
- Echo
- Loki season 2
- Hi Score Girl season 1-3
- Castlevania season 3-4
- Rings of Power season 1
- The Acolyte*
- The Boys season 1-4
- House of the Dragon season 2

Unfortunately, I stalled out around Labor Day when some important games were released.  I've been trying to get going again in fits and starts; I just finished Rings of Power season 2 and Agatha All Along, and I'm planning to watch the 2 seasons of Winning Time next, hopefully followed by the 5 seasons of Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

*Watching The Acolyte was pretty rough, but I have a group of friends that are huge Star Wars fans and I wanted to finish it.  So I modified the terms of what "watching" entails: I turned subtitles on and watched the show at 4x speed.  I had to do this for a few stretches of the The Boys, as well.

[Phishfan]

I couldn't finish Secret Invasion. I kept hoping it would get better but I never reached that point.

[Phishfan]

Daredevil is back!

Update on documentaries I watched a three part series called Devil in the Family about Ruby Franke. I had never heard of her or the concept of family vlogging but apparently her family became quite famous and made some good money. It was quite interesting to see their evolution.

[Sunstroke]

I fucking LOVE Daredevil. He and Spidey were the two comics I ponied up for the most at the Palace (magazine/candy store) as a kid. I pounced on the drop within minutes of the first two eps posting.

New season of 1923...all over it.

I watched about a gazillion hours of Combine. As soon as the FA run is done, and team needs get more clearly defined, I'll be able to Mock with my head held high. 

I am starting to watch a little of Maine Cabin Masters reruns... I like the crew because they are very much normal folks, and Maine is straight up beautiful.

New season of The Floor... I was a little concerned that they were going too gimmicky (couple of celebs, a plastic mom-daughter duo, a married couple, a Harlem globetrotter midget, etc...), but fortunately, most of the gimmicky elements have died in the duels early, so... yay!

[CF DolFan]

I've been watching the latest season of Reacher, after finishing up lower decks with my son.

I quit watching him when he started bashing cops in real life. Seems pretty hypocritical to me. Not something I would expect from someone who grew up in north Florida.

[Spider-Dan]

I quit watching him when he started bashing cops in real life. Seems pretty hypocritical to me.

Somehow I doubt you feel as strongly about the people who were physically bashing cops on January 6th.

[CF DolFan]

Somehow I doubt you feel as strongly about the people who were physically bashing cops on January 6th.

Nope. Anyone who hits police should be jailed but people like the guy who spent 3 years in jail with no trial is ridiculous and not normal. There was a ton of abuse in the prosecution of those people when the majority were not only let in but was directed by police and security where they could and couldn't go.