What to Watch Instantly on Netflix? (and now all streaming services)

[Atocep]

I saw that Severance S2 is finally releasing in January which reminded me of the shittiest part of the streaming era, which is the wait for new seasons. The gap between seasons 1 and 2 of Severance will be just under 3 years.

[RainMaker]

Originally Posted by Atocep

I saw that Severance S2 is finally releasing in January which reminded me of the shittiest part of the streaming era, which is the wait for new seasons. The gap between seasons 1 and 2 of Severance will be just under 3 years.

Yeah, it's made me avoid new shows more often than not. Prefer the limited series or anthologies.

[Ksyrup]

OMFGGTFHOOHFFSTCBR!

I will most definitely buy a month of whatever streaming service I need (if I don't already have it, I can't keep track) to watch this!




On a separate note, has Twitter disabled the ability to embed posts now? I saw this from someone I get notifications from on Twitter, but I had to go find it on YT to embed it here. ElameMuskgo.

[Arles]

Yeah, I'm in on that too

[Lathum]

Watching the original Bad News Bears with my daughter. Man, the scene in the dugout with Amanda and Buttermaker where she is basically begging to be a part of his life and he is pushing her away because he knows he simultaneously wants her in his life but knows he will disappoint her is really well done.

[RainMaker]

Cross on Amazon Prime is pretty fun if you like the books. I dog how Amazon is largely not changing much stuff from the books in their shows like Reacher and Jack Ryan too.

[Lathum]

We are really big fans of Impractical Jokers. Took my kids this morning to meet Murr at a book signing. He was super gracious and nice as could be. Kids were thrilled.

[Ksyrup]

I just bought tickets as an XMas present for my wife to see Joe Gatto in Louisville in May. We saw him in Toronto in June of 2023 while we were on vacation. Wife and I also saw Sal live almost exactly two years ago.

[RainMaker]

Say Nothing is really really good if you have FX/Hulu. One of my favorite books too.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by Lathum

We are really big fans of Impractical Jokers. Took my kids this morning to meet Murr at a book signing. He was super gracious and nice as could be. Kids were thrilled.

Impractical Jokers and The Office got me through covid quarantine.

[Arles]

Originally Posted by RainMaker

Cross on Amazon Prime is pretty fun if you like the books. I dog how Amazon is largely not changing much stuff from the books in their shows like Reacher and Jack Ryan too.

Agree completely. I've read a bunch of Reacher, Clancy (Jack Ryan) & Patterson's Alex Cross series. Having Tyler Perry or Morgan Freeman as Cross and Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher was quite the reach by Hollywood (Esp since Reacher is 6-5, 250 in the books), so the Amazon adaptations have been much truer to the characters. I really liked Hodge as Cross and hope they continue with him like they have done with Reacher and Ryan.

[RainMaker]

The guy they have playing Reacher is perfect casting. It's been awhile since I read some of those books but it just feels spot on. The only minor change is they gave him a little bit of a sense of a dry sense of humor which works well.

I'm of the belief that if a book is really popular, you should stick to keeping it as close as possible. There is a reason the book was popular after all. A lesson for the people who made The Witcher.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by Arles

Agree completely. I've read a bunch of Reacher, Clancy (Jack Ryan) & Patterson's Alex Cross series. Having Tyler Perry or Morgan Freeman as Cross and Tom Cruise as Jack Reacher was quite the reach by Hollywood (Esp since Reacher is 6-5, 250 in the books), so the Amazon adaptations have been much truer to the characters. I really liked Hodge as Cross and hope they continue with him like they have done with Reacher and Ryan.

I liked the Cross books (the couple I have read) and I really didn't have much of a problem with the Freeman movies. The Tyler Perry one was just bad. I need to watch the Cross show. I do think he is a very good character for a television series.
As for Cruise, I have never gotten how he is such a big action star. He played a good, cocky a-hole in Top Gun, but I have hated any other action movie I have seen him in (which isn't many).

[JPhillips]

I have such a hard time with any Patterson story after he was such a douche as a graduation speaker. The guy got bored and stood up and left half way through.

[GrantDawg]

Originally Posted by JPhillips

I have such a hard time with any Patterson story after he was such a douche as a graduation speaker. The guy got bored and stood up and left half way through.

I don't know the story, and really rather not. Whether I can enjoy the art of someone I dislike/disagree with or despise is very case by case, and sometimes it better just not knowing anything about them personally.

[JPhillips]

This happened where I teach. He's from Newburgh.

[Arles]

I think you have to be able to separate a person from their art. Some of the most talented athletes/musicians/actors/artists have been awful human beings. But I would hate to not be able to listen to music or watch a good movie because I "didn't like them".

[Edward64]

Thoroughly enjoyed “A Man on the Inside” on Netflix.

It’s not something I would watch but was surprised by it. A little detective comedy but also very thought provoking about Alzheimer’s. Ted Danson isn’t one of my must see actors but he was darn good.

[Ksyrup]

I watched 2 Netflix true crime documentaries on my business trip to Denver last weekend.

The one on the Zodiac, to the extent the family members interviewed are to be believed (and they seemed to have some corroborating evidence here and there), seems like it makes a pretty compelling case that the guy who was originally on the short list of suspects is the guy (Arthur Leigh Allen). I haven't read any critiques or takedowns on it to know whether some of it was BS or whether people are giving it the benefit of the doubt.

The other was on the "Times Square torso killer" in the late 70s/early 80s. He also did some killin' in NJ at the same time, and of course, at the time, there was no CODIS or really much of any kind of inter-agency cooperation/communication - not to mention the war on prostitutes which kept them from coming forward - so he got away with way too many crimes for way too long.

The funny (to me) thing is, his name was Richard Cottingham, and he went by Richie Cottingham. And then I saw that Ron Howard was one of the executive producers. Close enough that I lol'd.

[Fidatelo]

Finished up Arcane on Netflix this weekend. 10/10, phenomenal show, and this is coming from someone that has never played the game. The story and animation hold their own and I enjoyed every minute of it. My son watched with me and he does play the game and I think enjoyed it even more because he would giggle in delight when he recognized things.

[Edward64]

Dune Prophecy has exceeded my expectations.

[Edward64]

Netflix's Abigail was surprisingly entertaining. A horror movie with sprinkles of comedy. First half was kinda slow but second half was great. Nice special effects also.

Also watched some Monsieur Spade. Talk about slow as molasses, gave up on it. Also, the smoking was distracting and made me a little nauseous. I get it's in character but I wish we could go back to 00's and early 10's when smoking was much less in films.

[Ghost Econ]

Just saw that the people who made Friday Night Lights are doing a reboot with an all new cast. Not sure how I feel about it. Outside of Lance killing a guy and Street trying to go all Deep Blue Sea in season 2, it was near perfect.

However, I did see a blurb about Blue Bloods ending after 14 seasons. First, I didn't know it was still on the air. Second, I don't think I've ever seen a single second of any episode. Even on accident, I don't think I've accidentally channel surfed across a live episode or rerun for a show that has been on a major network almost as long as my daughter has been alive.

[Ksyrup]

Originally Posted by Ksyrup

OMFGGTFHOOHFFSTCBR!

I will most definitely buy a month of whatever streaming service I need (if I don't already have it, I can't keep track) to watch this!




On a separate note, has Twitter disabled the ability to embed posts now? I saw this from someone I get notifications from on Twitter, but I had to go find it on YT to embed it here. ElameMuskgo.

This was fantastic. It could have been longer and the geek in me would have liked some interviews with the second and third-tier participants (Player and the like), but the subject was treated with the lightness it deserved, while also doing a great job of explaining all of the tentacles of 70s lite rock/jazz/R&B that emanated from Steely Dan and the studio musicians who formed the core of Toto. I knew a decent amount of the connections, but still didn't realize the extent Porcaro, Paisch and others from Toto were all over mid-70s to mid-80s music.

The best part was near the end when they played about a 20 second audio recording of the director calling Donald Fagan and asking him for a short interview about the "genre" he was doing a documentary for. When Fagan asked which genre and he said "Yacht Rock," Fagan tells him to go fuck himself and hangs up!

The irony is that the first third of this documentary is basically idolizing Fagan and Becker for their own work and for everything that came out of their band members. It's like seeing the Bill Walsh coaching tree of lite rock.

Highly recommended.

[Edward64]

Would love to see a series made. Need more sci-fi-fantasy and apocalyptic shows.

So it had a rough start, but it's already received several significant patches. GSC Game World owner Maxim Krippa is already looking to the future, though, revealing in an interview with Forbes Ukraine (via Polygon) that Stalker 2 may be getting a Netflix show.

Krippa told Forbes: "I would like us to get the series on Netflix. Some negotiations are underway, but the issue has not yet been resolved." Given TV's enduring love-in with stark post-apocalyptic fiction, not to mention the success of the brilliant HBO show Chernobyl, Stalker 2 seems like a marriage of themes bound to get the attention of streaming services. According to ITC.ua, which translated the Forbes interview, Krippa is inspired by the promotion strategy of CD Projekt RED and the immense success it had with The Witcher, so it seems that Krippa has ambitions of making Stalker 'The Witcher of Ukraine'.

[thesloppy]

Odd to not even mention the original Stalker film on which the games are based.

[JPhillips]

Anybody watching Earth Abides on MGM+? A friend from grad school is the female lead.

[Edward64]

Alright, going to fess up. Started watching K-drama love story "Crash Landing on You" with the missus yesterday and it was ... pretty decent.

Lots of K-dramas get tedious because the pacing is off, or there's is a ton of useless, redundant filler stuff but we're into Ep 4 and it's still engaging.

It is plagued with exaggerated stereotypes, but I appreciate seeing hints of life in North Korea; romantic tension; drama from some sort of mystery; the mini cliffhangers and reveals; and comedy tossed in etc. The acting by the lead actress is also pretty good.

So, if you can handle subtitles and don't mind the typical K-drama'isms (?), give it a try with the significant other. It is better than vast majority of K-dramas that I've seen (including the zombie ones).

[Critch]

Originally Posted by Groundhog

We went through 3 seasons of Mr Inbetween in like 2 weeks, amazing. I guess you could kind of compare it to something like an Aussie Breaking Bad, although the lead has "broke bad" already. Very, very Australian (Americans will need subtitles) and shot all around where I live which definitely added to my enjoyment of it.

A few years later but I'll add another vote for Mr Inbetween. Started watching it last week and just about finished the first two seasons.

It's very good, Breaking Bad is what I thought of too. Balancing his ordinary everyday life but with the background that he's an enforcer/hitman for organized crime.

I didnt need subtitles but I'm not American. I grew up with Home and Away, Neighbours and Rolf Harris on TV so maybe I'm more attuned to the Australian accent. Havent had any real issue understanding them.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I’ve been enjoying “Creature Commandos” on Max and “Secret Level” on Amazon Prime.

[Edward64]

Looking forward to 2025 streaming shows ...

https://time.com/7201101/anticipated-tv-shows-2025/

Of particular interest to me ...

Alien: Earth
A Knight of the 7 Kingdoms
Andor s2
The Last of Us s2
Stranger Things s5
Wednesday s2

Not mentioned but I know is coming next year

Wheel of Time s3
Strange New Worlds s3
Starfleet Academy