bookgazing (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
bookgazing) wrote2019-06-30 02:10 pm
bookgazing) wrote2019-06-30 02:10 pm
What I've Been Watching
On Twitter, I promised I was writing a post this week about media that was going into my eyes, but I find myself with so much backlog (and an extra weekend day off) that it seems sensible to split the posts so I don't bore people and I don't get overwhelmed writing this and give up. So, this week you get a quick look at my thoughts on things I've been watching.
Good Omens (TV) - I'm so happy with what this show has done with Crowley and Aziraphale, and quite honestly that is all I really care about. No, I mean, I really like Adria Arjona who is playing Anathema even though I don't feel like she has a lot to work with. And I loved seeing so many jobbing British actors, whose careers I have followed vaguely but enthusiastically throughout the years, cast in this show. The four horsemen are all fantastic in different ways. And it's great to see a production attuned to the importance of having multiple chromatic actors playing recurring characters (although, of course, there are loads of easy casting changes that could have improved this by giving chromatic actors more prominent roles). Still, I am oh so pleased that my favs feel "right" to me personally. Please drop all your Crowley/Aziraphale feels, and fanfic recs, into the comments if you would like.
What We Do In the Shadows (TV) - This is exactly the kind of not very good, not even really my thing, type of comedy I like to watch sometimes when my brain needs a break. It is doing its job admirably, and I really like watching the three main vamps. There have been some funny episodes like the one where they take an undead Baron on a big night out in the USA, but really there are so many other paranormal satire shows out there doing a better job at being funny you could easily skip it if you're not looking for a brain cushion.
Gentleman Jack - Loving the Anne/Ann relationship. Loving the family dynamics with Anne's relatives (particularly her sister). Love, love, loving Suranne Jones in this role, and costume. Not so much here for the side plots about pigs eating terrible people :/ I feel like Sally Wainwright wanted to write some "regular person" content into this show so it wouldn't be all about the gentry, and that is commendable (and very Sally Wainwright); particularly in light of Anne's conservative political ideas when it comes to people in trade, and her tenants. I'm just not quite sure that the particular story line Wainwright has chosen is the best way to get this kind of content into the show. The creative team could easily have stuck with the mining, the romance (kind of like a lesbian Poldark, but better) and the servant girl in trouble while doing away with the weird murder plot. However, this is a minor quibble because really WELL DONE SALLY WAINWRIGHT for bringing this remarkable woman, and a world of high society lesbian affairs, to mainstream TV and producing such a high quality period drama. Just, applause all round.
The Vampire Diaries - My re-watch of TVD progresses slooooowwwwlllly. Unlike The Gilmore Girls, this isn't a show where I can pause in the middle of an episode and go back to later. I have to watch complete episodes in one go, and that's making it harder to find the time to fit in episodes. What I can report is that I'd forgotten how much happens in the first series. I can't believe how many plot lines have already taken place when I would have sworn they happened in later series. There is a LOT of drama in Mystic Falls. Anyway, still very much enjoying it. Still on my Tyler/Jeremy/Matt bullshit. Still so impressed by Nina Dobrev's skill in making Elena and Katherine so distinct. I just watched the episode where Elena appears in period costume, just as the boys agree she's not Katherine, and Damon is stricken by the resemblance. Through the whole thing, Dobrev uses her wonderfully expressive face to make it clear that the girl standing there is Elena, not Katherine, whatever Damon may think she looks like.
Black Sails - Jenny and I continue our watch through of Black Sails, and will have a recap of Episode 6 out soon. I can report that Max has escaped the fuck tent, and so I am very pleased.
Rocketman - I don't see films that often right now, but ended up going to see this Elton John musical biopic because someone else wanted to. It absolutely surpassed all my expectations for a musical biography, and had some really smart musical moments. The arrangement of I Want Love is fantastic obviously, but it was the set up of Your Song which destroyed me because the creative team have actually thought about the words and reclaimed the simplicity of the song which is so often lost. I haven't been able to stop singing Elton John songs for a couple of weeks now which should tell you something as I would never have said I was a huge fan of his music.
Queens Tennis - Andy Murray's return to tennis was A LOT for this tennis fan, let me tell you. I've seen so many emotional Murray moments - the first Wimbeldon win, the near misses, the second win, that never ending match during the Rio Olympics - and they've all been special. This return though. And to win with Lopez, who had played five matches in two days, and won his own final!! It was just such a fairy tale it's hard to believe it even happened, but it did.
Bake Off: The Professional - If you love Bake Off, but haven't seen this spin off do yourself a favour and give it a try. Teams of people try to bake as hard as they can in impossible situations only to be casually slapped down by two very demanding judges despite having made impossible majesties out of sugar and chocolate. You will roar at the TV at the injustice, but you will still come out loving Cherish and Benoit. There are some great teams (especially in the latest series). However, do yourself a favour and start watching when Liam Charles and Tom Allen start presenting as that's when it gets good.
That's it for now. Next time - bookish thought.
Good Omens (TV) - I'm so happy with what this show has done with Crowley and Aziraphale, and quite honestly that is all I really care about. No, I mean, I really like Adria Arjona who is playing Anathema even though I don't feel like she has a lot to work with. And I loved seeing so many jobbing British actors, whose careers I have followed vaguely but enthusiastically throughout the years, cast in this show. The four horsemen are all fantastic in different ways. And it's great to see a production attuned to the importance of having multiple chromatic actors playing recurring characters (although, of course, there are loads of easy casting changes that could have improved this by giving chromatic actors more prominent roles). Still, I am oh so pleased that my favs feel "right" to me personally. Please drop all your Crowley/Aziraphale feels, and fanfic recs, into the comments if you would like.
What We Do In the Shadows (TV) - This is exactly the kind of not very good, not even really my thing, type of comedy I like to watch sometimes when my brain needs a break. It is doing its job admirably, and I really like watching the three main vamps. There have been some funny episodes like the one where they take an undead Baron on a big night out in the USA, but really there are so many other paranormal satire shows out there doing a better job at being funny you could easily skip it if you're not looking for a brain cushion.
Gentleman Jack - Loving the Anne/Ann relationship. Loving the family dynamics with Anne's relatives (particularly her sister). Love, love, loving Suranne Jones in this role, and costume. Not so much here for the side plots about pigs eating terrible people :/ I feel like Sally Wainwright wanted to write some "regular person" content into this show so it wouldn't be all about the gentry, and that is commendable (and very Sally Wainwright); particularly in light of Anne's conservative political ideas when it comes to people in trade, and her tenants. I'm just not quite sure that the particular story line Wainwright has chosen is the best way to get this kind of content into the show. The creative team could easily have stuck with the mining, the romance (kind of like a lesbian Poldark, but better) and the servant girl in trouble while doing away with the weird murder plot. However, this is a minor quibble because really WELL DONE SALLY WAINWRIGHT for bringing this remarkable woman, and a world of high society lesbian affairs, to mainstream TV and producing such a high quality period drama. Just, applause all round.
The Vampire Diaries - My re-watch of TVD progresses slooooowwwwlllly. Unlike The Gilmore Girls, this isn't a show where I can pause in the middle of an episode and go back to later. I have to watch complete episodes in one go, and that's making it harder to find the time to fit in episodes. What I can report is that I'd forgotten how much happens in the first series. I can't believe how many plot lines have already taken place when I would have sworn they happened in later series. There is a LOT of drama in Mystic Falls. Anyway, still very much enjoying it. Still on my Tyler/Jeremy/Matt bullshit. Still so impressed by Nina Dobrev's skill in making Elena and Katherine so distinct. I just watched the episode where Elena appears in period costume, just as the boys agree she's not Katherine, and Damon is stricken by the resemblance. Through the whole thing, Dobrev uses her wonderfully expressive face to make it clear that the girl standing there is Elena, not Katherine, whatever Damon may think she looks like.
Black Sails - Jenny and I continue our watch through of Black Sails, and will have a recap of Episode 6 out soon. I can report that Max has escaped the fuck tent, and so I am very pleased.
Rocketman - I don't see films that often right now, but ended up going to see this Elton John musical biopic because someone else wanted to. It absolutely surpassed all my expectations for a musical biography, and had some really smart musical moments. The arrangement of I Want Love is fantastic obviously, but it was the set up of Your Song which destroyed me because the creative team have actually thought about the words and reclaimed the simplicity of the song which is so often lost. I haven't been able to stop singing Elton John songs for a couple of weeks now which should tell you something as I would never have said I was a huge fan of his music.
Queens Tennis - Andy Murray's return to tennis was A LOT for this tennis fan, let me tell you. I've seen so many emotional Murray moments - the first Wimbeldon win, the near misses, the second win, that never ending match during the Rio Olympics - and they've all been special. This return though. And to win with Lopez, who had played five matches in two days, and won his own final!! It was just such a fairy tale it's hard to believe it even happened, but it did.
Bake Off: The Professional - If you love Bake Off, but haven't seen this spin off do yourself a favour and give it a try. Teams of people try to bake as hard as they can in impossible situations only to be casually slapped down by two very demanding judges despite having made impossible majesties out of sugar and chocolate. You will roar at the TV at the injustice, but you will still come out loving Cherish and Benoit. There are some great teams (especially in the latest series). However, do yourself a favour and start watching when Liam Charles and Tom Allen start presenting as that's when it gets good.
That's it for now. Next time - bookish thought.
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