The TV thread

I get it. That's why I like 90-Day Finance: Something mindless but still fun to watch.

 

Was watching the second season of Bad Blood on Netflix - a meh Canadian based gangster show tolerable because its only eight eps. But they had at least one of those "standoff" scenes where multiple people have guns at each others heads. You know there is no chance someone will shoot - because it will mess up the plot that has been set up. One of the reasons I loved that scene in The Rock, when the trigger actually is pulled.
You could build a decent show out of one of those standoffs gone bad, bunch of tough guys mouthing off. Some low-level guy drops his glass and bullets fly. Some custodian ambles along and grabs all of the guns and the money and off we go.

 

Really interesting ending to Chernobyl. It was a tough watch at times, but really important considering the political climate we live in today. And for the record, Mazin said he started working on this idea prior to the 2016 election, so even though it could be read as a commentary on "fake news" and the current administration's history of lying, it's just coincidence.

 

Kyle Chandler is incredible in Catch-22. He's somewhere between Queeg in Caine Mutiny and Sgt. Hartman in Full Metal Jacket. A lock for an Emmy nomination. Overall, it's a very good six-ep run. Chandler replaced George Clooney who was originally penciled in and then took a smaller role - it was a change for the better. I think "You're Goodam Right HOORAH!" might be my new go too line.

 

I'll bet it was a change for the better.

Clooney is Danny Ocean and Michael Clayton. And he was good in Out of Sight and Up In The Air. I've never found him real convincing in much else, including as a spy fat in Syriana.

 

What about Everett Ulysses McGill?

 

I tried to put up a clip of The Office episode where they play the murder game (there has been a murda) and the last scene has a standoff like that. But the only results I get are for actual office place murders.

 

I'm going to start Chernobyl.

"When They See Us" about the Central Park Five is a painful watch just in the first 30 mins; I'm talking about the intersection of race and a modern quick trigger by the machinations of a DA and the NYPD at her disposal. Brutal. So painful and discouraging that I couldn't even get through an episode.

 

Agreed - I didn't like Clooney in O Brother or Men Who Stare at Goats or any movie he tries to be goofy in. Great in Three Kings and Ides of March as well.

 

Loved the ending. I loved how they explained everything there at the end and he consequences of it all. That was one of those series where you finish it and sit back and take inventory of what you just watched.

I didn't piece together the bit about the suppression of the truth until you pointed it out. But that is a fantastic thing to juxtapose with today's climate vs the climate of the USSR.

The last thing I'll say is there aren't many stories in the west that actually shines the Soviets in a positive light. It was actually refreshing to have the story be told down the middle and not taking unnecessary shots at the Soviets but rather highlighted the best of the people while acknowledging the worst of the Communist corruption.

 

I'd recommend to anyone who watched the show that they listen to the companion podcasts. It's not just a rehash, but Mazin goes into detail about what was real and what was not and the artistic license they took with certain scenes. Really good.

Also, I've heard many of the Ukranians were satisfied with the show because Mazin and Co. wanted to do right by the victims and the heroes who worked at the site.

Then, there's this from Moscow Times.

 

Enjoy the ride. It's one of the best shows to come out this year.