The HBO documentary on Bishop Sycamore is incredible and a must watch.

That coach is a con artist, psychopath, narcissist, and it's stunning he isn't in jail. This guy sits down for multiple interviews for this and just shows how "off" he is and how different his reality is.

Watched Stake Land and Stake Land II on Prime. Solid movies, nothing great, but good escapism if you like post-apocalyptic, vampire stuff.

Better than some B grade stuff I collect so no complaints.

I'm not a Stargate fan (not even the movie) but started watching Stargate Universe series on Prime and have found it compelling.

Not great acting, not great special effects, not great stories but they are interesting stories. They are essentially in an old alien spacecraft that they cannot control (essentially on auto-pilot), overcome challenges, and visit planets.

Don't claim to know all the intricacies of the strike but assume there's a lot of people (non-writers, non-actors) who are not getting a paycheck during the strike.

So Bill and Drew wanting to restart their shows but making some concessions seems right to me. If more follow suit, that means the unions will have reduced leverage in negotiations. Interesting game of chicken right now.

Bill Maher and Drew Barrymore are returning to work — 'it’s all about greed' - MarketWatch

Just saw a trailer for Frasier (2023) on Paramount. Don’t think it’ll translate well to nowadays but rooting for it to succeed anyway.

Sad to see Winning Time end. Would have liked more but it’s hard to keep expensive prestige type tv around that doesn’t get Emmy noms. Second season was really truncated but the one Bird episode was especially good.

Some of these shows are getting killed by how spread out they are over streaming services. We're at the point where it costs far more than cable to keep up with most of the good shows.

This ^^^

When I cut the cord like 3 years ago, Hulu was $34.99 and few of these other places (other than Netflix) had anything. Now Huu just went up to $84.99 or something (with HBO included) and I'm paying for Netflix, Apple TV, and Paramount plus. Add in my internet and ($40 from AT&T) and I'm nearly back up to the $200 that Comcast was charging.

I'm pretty lucky right now. I have T-Mobile and it comes with free Netflix, Apple TV, MLB tv, and MLS season pass. I'm grandfathered for the Disney/Hulu/ESPN+ bundle for $15 a month and I get back 1/2;by paying with my Amex. Somehow my Paramount account got messed up so I have free paramount+/showtime. And I got Peacock for $25 a year through December. Also have T-Mobile internet for $30 a month.

So for $40 a month I get internet/Hulu/ESPN/Disney/peacock/paramount. And I don't really count Amazon Prime as costing anything as the streaming there is a bonus.

Only thing I miss out on are braves games since MLB tv blacks them out, so I don't feel bad using free streams on Kodi.

That seems like a very good deal, what's the catch?

The most obvious one I noticed was having T-Mobile ;)

Haha!


Slightly-on topic of cutting the cord, my trainer was talking about how her parents had a 'jailbroken firestick' that was the equivalent of those modified cable boxes that got all the channels in the 90s.

That was the first I had heard of such a thing, but I figured if my trainers' crusty parents could figure it out than I probably could. Just out of curiosity, I got a 4K firestick for $25 on Prime day and spent a weekend fucking around with it & taking a deep dive. You can potentially access anything on any streaming service, practically anything that has a torrent can be streamed instantly, and you can access to live streaming channels & sports from around the world. That comes with plenty of caveats though: Streaming copyrighted material is still illegal of course, and some of the optional graymarket services still cost money, just less of it. Quality can be questionable, the more niche the content the more the quality is a crapshoot. The interface is clunky. Setup is lengthy and seems like it requires some active management.

I don't think I could live with the various quirks to actually use it as my viewing source, but it was fun to fuck around with for a weekend.

This

Yeah, TMobile and Amex are currently the secret sauce for me. Also got a sling air TV when it was on clearance. It's a streaming box I have in my attic hooked to an antenna so I can get all the locals free over my wifi. This is just so I don't have little antenna all over the house. I assume it's going to melt in a summer or 2 as it's an attic in the South, but it's worth it for Saturday afternoon.

Welp, looks like Bill and Drew both blinked.

I think it is because all the sides of the strike have agreed to come to the table, and there seems to be some optimism. It would be stupid to burn bridges just to have the strike end a week later.

I'm looking forward to further stories in the John Wick world.

‘The Continental’ TV Review: ‘John Wick’ Prequel On Peacock – Deadline

Unfortunately, I'm not on Peacock. If you are, let us know what you think ...

"Road Warrior" is one of my favorite movies of all time and I really loved a ton of Mel Gibson movies back in the day (Braveheart, Lethal Weapon, etc, etc, etc), but I just don't think I can watch him on screen anymore, especially in anything new.

He's just too awful. It's too bad, because the show looks promising.

Yep. Mel Gibson is on the Will Not Watch Ever list.

How do you feel about Mark Wahlberg?

If I thought about it much, he'd probably be on the list with Mel. But so far, I'll still watch movies that he's in.

A quick websearch affirms that I should add Wahlberg to the list.

I was obsessed with Braveheart as a kid. Yeah, it's not the same anymore!

I loved Braveheart. But I can't watch it anymore.

I just always found it amusing that Mel Gibson is effectively black-listed from Hollywood movies for drunken driving and racist slurs. Yet no one seems to care that Mark Wahlberg has committed racist violence or made The Happening. Which IMO is much worse than anything Mel did.

Mel also has domestic violence incidents.

I have no time for either of them, but I think what helped take Mel down so much harder were all of the recordings and videos. It's one thing to read about an incident and quite another to actually see it/hear it (see, e.g., Ray Rice).

Of the two, I feel the loss of Mel Gibson more so, because I really liked him as an actor and loved many of his movies.

Other than The Departed, which Wahlberg is great in, I think he's largely ass as an actor. I guess he was fine in Boogie Nights.

Related:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=2UoHb0ziMDA

This dude does incredible work. He only has three videos up, but the other two (Steven Seagal gets choked out on set & Michael Jackson's hair catch fire) are even more in-depth, with interviews and musical numbers.

I don't know if I could self censure based on the the actions of the actor. There may be some that are an automatic no, but you'd have a really small library of films.

It's not that hard, really. I imagine it's quite subjective and based on different things for different folks, if at all.

Agreed. I don't judge people on who they can or can't stand to watch. Mel was in so many great things that it is hard for me to say I would never watch "Lethal Weapon" or "Mad Max" again. But they are tarnished. I can't think of a Gibson movie I would go out of my way to watch, but I also wouldn't leave a party if someone had one on.

this is awesome

Exactly. I saw Road Warrior in the theater when I was a 8 years old (my parents were quite lax). I have loved that movie since then, but I am not sure if I would go out of my way to watch it again. Whenver I feel the Road Warrior itch, I just throw on "Fury Road."

Fury Road is a superior movie in all facets anyway.

The Elora's Dad episode of Reservation Dogs is so good. Most shows struggle with character development episodes, but they do them so well. There was basically no plot that mattered, but the character development was outstanding.

And Ethan Hawke is underappreciated.

Reservation Dogs has been consistently my favorite show over the last few years. It’s remarkable.

Strike is over.

Writers Strike Ends: WGA, AMPTP Agree to Deal After 146-Day Strike

Yup. Now it is just the actor's strike, but i think this agreement will likely make the framework for theirs.

Do we know who "won?"

No details yet, but my guess is they both gave ground but the writers would have "won." There is going to be some revenue sharing where there wasn't before, and a restriction on AI use where the studio's wanted none.

Dang, I really like Zooey Deschanel, I guess that means I can't watch her stuff anymore? My wife will be real upset when I don't allow Elf this Christmas.

Still no details, but the email sent from the WGA to its members makes it sound like they got significant concessions.

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I read up on Wahlberg and disagree with you.

Wahlberg had 2 separate incidents (blacks & Vietnamese) in the 80s when he was in his teens. From what I've read (and correct me if I'm wrong), there's not been any other incidents since then.

Gibson has been antisemitic as an adult along with sprinkling of other "off-color controversies". See below for his list ...

Mel Gibson says the Catholic Church needs some 'housecleaning' | Daily Mail Online


Neither are a must-watch actor (unlike Tom Cruise). I didn't think Braveheart was all that great.

He beat the shit out of a random innocent shopkeeper because he was Vietnamese and left him blind in one eye for life. I'm glad he hasn't done that a lot since but I don't feel the need to celebrate him or brush it aside either. Just like Tyreek Hill it's better to commit your most serious crimes before you get famous.

I read this as part of my research.

Mark Wahlberg gets pardon from the only person who matters, the victim Johnny Trinh | Daily Mail Online

I don't know any charities he supports, but it would be good if he donated to some causes and personally ask his victims for forgiveness. As far as I know, he hasn't done that so that is also part of the story.

Tom Cruise is a big POS than either. The things he has been involved with as the number 2 man in Scientology is pure evil.

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And Curt Schilling comes around the outside screaming anti-semitic rants!

He's about three interviews away from an, actually Hitler was good, rant.

The WGA details have been released. The writers definitely won. Steaming residuals with the streamers having to disclose viewer hours and foreign inclusion. Restrictions to AI use, including the right for writers to use or refuse to use AI. Staff writer room minimums, not quite what they asked but still as many as 6 depending on the number of episodes. All things that the studio's wanted to be zero.

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Schilling is a steaming pile of shit for revealing that Tim Wakefield has serious brain cancer and Tim’s wife has pancreatic cancer.

That is an incredibly sad. Wakefield was one of my favorite non-Braves.

Anyone else hate-watching Invasion on Apple TV?

I hope the aliens eviscerate humanity if these people are out best hope.

I watched maybe the first 2 episodes. It was way, way (let me add one more ... way) too slow for me.

As I was waiting for the next episode of WoT, caught Angelina Jolie's Those Who Wish Me Dead.

I wasn't expecting much but this was pretty decent, entertaining enough. Not much of a plot and not one I'll rewatch anytime soon. Jolie was her plasticky self, but the action was pretty good.

Finished re-watching "The Pacific". I prefer "Band of Brothers" but The Pacific was pretty good in its own right. It seemed to capture the horror that was the Pacific war, it was grittier and more ... brutal.

FWIW, there is a 3rd series coming out soon on AppleTV.

Have you checked out Dan Carlin's Supernova in the East? It's a long ass podcast series just about the war in the Pacific. It's great, but 5 or 6 episodes about 3 hours+ each.

Thanks. I'm not a fan of long podcasts (or books on tape) but will check it out.

This series has been in development hell or something for years. Either it sucks and has to be reworked, or something else weird is going on, because they have been done shooting for a long time. Also interesting that HBO passed on it.

Apple has it as "coming soon". So I'm thinking it will happen eventually.

https://tv.apple.com/us/show/masters...l9kmicq738k5q2

Are we that hard up for youngish American actors? Band of Brothers was mostly late 20s American actors. The Pacific was about 50/50 American and Australian. Masters of the Air looks to be 90% British.

I think its been coming soon for 2+ years

I started to google more ("when will Masters of the Air") to find a more definite release date and ... holy crap, what great timing!

Apple’s World War II series Masters of the Air premieres in January - The Verge

This, and others similar, just popped up 1 hour ago.

Some other pics here

‘Masters of the Air’ Release Date, Photos: Apple TV Plus Austin Butler – TVLine

Just cancelled Netflix after having it constantly from the time we were mailing discs back and forth. The price rise announced made it easy to pull the trigger. They keep cutting service and content while increasing prices. Bye-Bye.

I think Apple is currently the best streaming service. They are consistently putting out good stuff. This looks right up my alley.

I have one more episode left in The Fall of the House of Usher. I was expecting it to be set in the past, like Bly Manor, and to have a set up like one of the old Vincent Price films. But it is set in current times with flashbacks and formatted as an interview between a federal prosecutor and the patriarch of the Usher family. Pretty good stuff.

As a fun aside, I asked someone at work if they had seen it and they thought it was about Usher, the musician. Those Vincent Price movies were old when I was a kid, but I guess they don’t randomly air at night any more.

The Gold is a good British caper show that is on Paramount Plus. Soundtrack is also outstanding.

Loved this so much. Mark Hamill should win an Emmy for his role in this.

Saw a trailer for FX Shogun. 10 episodes.

Remake of the 80’s Shogun series based on James Clavell’s novel. Remember enjoying the original.

Just got an email that prices are increasing again on December. I'm up to $22.99. I don't even remember what it was before, they've increased it so many times.

Same here.

I, also, got an email from (HBO) Max informing me that while my price isn’t going up, I’ll be getting less than I have been for that price. If I want the same level of service, I will need to pay more.

Yeah, losing 4k and hdd sound. It's stupid.

When we were dumping DTV and switching to YTTV and Netflix was talking about shutting down accounts for "family" sharing, I had planned to dump Netflix. But then a weird thing happened - my wife, who had never so much as opened a streaming app, suddenly was transported like 10 years into the past and became enamored with all of the movies and TV shows she could watch. So now she won't let me cancel it.

At least she's made the transition to streaming pretty well. I was concerned she would instantly age 25 years when DTV was cut off.

My daughter is watching Twilight in the living room.

Holy fuck this movie is soooooo bad. The acting is horrendous. The pacing is terrible. I don't understand the camera movements or how scenes are about 23 seconds each. I get it's a movie for teens, but this is so bad.

I felt like that when I tried to watch one of the early Transformers movies with my son years ago. I made it about ten minutes and then just had to tap out.

The actor strike is finally over. Finally.

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But what did we miss? I haven't run out of things to watch yet.

First trailer. Apple Jan 26.



I'm sure it'll be good. I hope there's more of these planned for the next couple decades.

Excited about this one.


And this one, but much more speculative.

I Am Legend 2 Release Date Rumors: When Is It Coming Out?

My wife has had our Hulu subscription in her name forever.

I have the Disney+ subscription (and all others).

I have wanted to sign up for the Disney-Hulu-ESPN bundle for a while now, but. because I have an annual plan with Disney+ I cannot do that under my current account. All I can sign up for is the same annual subscription or the ad-tier Disney+ one.

So, now I have to wait for my annual subscription to actually expire before I can sign up for the bundle.

Why are they making this so difficult?

Similarly, I get Peacock for "free" due to my Xfinity internet package. I was looking for a way to upgrade my Peacock subscription from ads to no ads (I'm like the RedZone, I don't do commercials). I eventually had to call Xfinity only to find out that it's impossible. You can't upgrade your free Peacock subscription by paying the difference.

In unrelated news:

Blue Eye Samurai on Netflix is pretty great. Also, Gen V, the Boys spinoff, on Amazon was excellent and the second season of Invincible just started last week.

I don't know if it's dependent on which service you are paying for and want to combine with the D+/Hulu/E+ bundle, but I was paying for E+ on an annual subscription and was able to get the bundle under the same account where they switched me to monthly payments for the bundle and credited me back a monthly amount for what was remaining on my E+ annual subscription.

I think it is. I did some research into this and Hulu had that kind of flexibility, but Disney+ did not. At all.

I will just have to wait until November 12 to re-subscribe to everything. Hopefully, my daughter isn't on a Disney show kick that morning. Currently, she's into "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie" on Amazon, but her moods are fickle.

Also, neither she nor my 12 year old ever watch cable TV, unless, of course, it's the only option at a hotel or something. If my 12 year turns on the TV, it's right to a streaming service.

The Afterparty on Apple TV. First season is funny and the way they style each episode is fun. I'll also watch anything with Sam Richardson. Season 2, not as good but has a few moments are hilarious.

I thought the first season was excellent. How each episode's storytelling fit the character the episode was focused on was great. I had a tough time getting into the 2nd season though.

I loaded and watched Bodies on Netflix during a recent trip.

Here's the hook: a detective is chasing a petty crook through London, seemingly routine stuff, and amidst rushing after him, she stumbles across a nude man, lying seemingly dead, with a gunshot to his eye.

We fade out, start up a separate story in 1941, which leads to apparently the same body turning up in the same side street in London. And then, a third story, in 1890, ends up the same way - the same street, same body.

It's a 7 or 8 ep mini series. Pretty well acted (I tab the lead actor from the 1941 segment for big things someday) and written, and... some intriguing stuff beneath the surface oddities. Not an A+ but maybe a solid B+ from me.

Glad you are enjoying it. I saw the trailer for it and it seemed right up my alley. Next up on my list.

For F1/Motorsports Fans here or just fans of a good/crazy story: There's a documentary about Brawn GP on Disney+ (Brawn: The impossible Formula 1 story). First look was pretty good. Not sure having a prominent and ever present presenter (Keanu Reeves) is the best move for such a series though.

I know that all time travel falls apart once you spend a second looking at it, but this one really annoyed me. And the ending really annoyed me.

Using this link, Hulu is a dollar a month until next turkey day.
https://www.hulu.com/gma

Also, Max is $3 a month for 6 months if you subscribe on their site. It will have ads, but I'll probably get it since my daughter wants to start watching friends.

Thanks. I got a similar, low cost Hulu deal some years ago. If I recall, you don't get all the good stuff, this is just the older inventory of TV shows & movies, right?

Thanks GE.

I did this some years back and didn't even use it enough to justify the $1/month honestly BUT I think this should let me circle back and watch the last (?) of Attack on Titan which I don't believe we ever finished so it was an easy call to sign-up for just $1.

I can confirm that Attack on Titan is finally done and all available on Hulu.

I love how the skip intro button on these services don't come up for 5 seconds, then make sure to only skip until there's 10 seconds left in the intro.

Peacock for $20 for a year or $2 per month for 12 months.

Black Friday Deal | Peacock

Thanks again.

I guess where they get you on these deals is when you forget to unsubscribe

Signed up for Peacock, HBO+ and Hulu. Cancelled Disney+ (until something new comes up).

Keeping Prime because it's so darn convenient. Thinking about dropping Netflix for a while.

I wrapped up Blue Eye Samurai on Netflix. It was awesome. The animation is great, the voice acting is awesome and the writing and story are really good. Would definitely recommend. It's got a Kill Bill in feudal Japan vibe.

I, also, really liked Scavangers Reign on Max. Very solid sci-fi animated series. It's about a crew of a ship that crash lands on an alien planet. The world-building is amazing. The alien life on the planet is very cool, diverse and intricate.

I don't know why I've been watching so many animated series of late, but there you go.

Watched the 3 episodes of The Continental.

Disappointing, it wasn’t what I expected. It had some of the John Wick characters, some of the world … but it was so way out there. Some weird story writing, heck I could have come up with something better.

Checkout the Amazon Fallout trailer. Scheduled for Apr 12.

Hard to tell just with a trailer (we've all be fooled before, right?) but loving it so far.

12 moments from the Fallout TV show trailer that make us think it could actually be good | PC Gamer




Some nice pics ...

That looks like it could be really good. Captured the vibe of Fallout games really well.

Slow Horses on Apple TV continues to scratch my spy itch.

Watched Eddie Murphy's "Candy Cane Lane". Overall, pretty fun movie, worth the watch. E

My wife is playing Christmas movie bingo with her 3 sisters. She's can watch one Christmas movie a night. But I've come to realize many of the recent Christmas shows are really more rom-com's with a side of Christmas theme.