Netflix Original Series

[Tom Foolery]

Netflix is doing a live action Avatar the Last Airbender series. It might be good, it might suck. But I really enjoy the original animated series. It might be one of my favorite mythologies/stories that didn’t originate in my childhood.

My wife and kids were watching it several years ago and I was only half paying attention to it. Mostly I knew of it because of the “My cabbages!” meme.
But the more they watched, the more I was paying attention. And now I’ve probably rewatched the entire series at least three or four times. Love it. I’ve even watched the sequel series Korra a couple times, but it’s not as good. Imagine finding something in your forties that you love as much as Transformers and Star Wars when you were ten.

The M Night Shamalyan movie is non-existent. Never mention it in mixed company.

Looking forward to the Netflix series, but it won’t detract from the original.

[jjreason]

The WB Harry Potter (not to be confused with a Netflix series, just providing info to compare with the last post) is going to apparently be 7 seasons taking place over 10 years. They are planning for it to to be the most expensive series ever, apparently.

[Tom Foolery]

The WB Harry Potter (not to be confused with a Netflix series, just providing info to compare with the last post) is going to apparently be 7 seasons taking place over 10 years. They are planning for it to to be the most expensive series ever, apparently.

If it does well, Disney will announce they are remaking the Original Trilogy as a three season TV series and re-cast Han, Luke, and Leia.

[Ran]

The WB Harry Potter (not to be confused with a Netflix series, just providing info to compare with the last post) is going to apparently be 7 seasons taking place over 10 years. They are planning for it to to be the most expensive series ever, apparently.

If it does well, Disney will announce they are remaking the Original Trilogy as a three season TV series and re-cast Han, Luke, and Leia.

It seems inevitable. That way they can change a few things to make Episodes 7-9 make sense. The question is do we discuss it in the Star Wars thread, or in the Pathetic Remakes of Shit thread.

[jjreason]

That will make me very, very sad.

[Tom Foolery]

Lots of free time, I watched a couple new shows on Netflix.

3 Body Problem. 8 episodes. The first episode had me intrigued. By the time I got to the incident in the Panama canal in episode 5, I was screaming ‘what the fuck??’ and by episode seven when Will is pushing the buttons and Saul is there, but Jun isn’t going to make it in time I was wiping snot off my face. Now I’m going to have to wait like 2-3 years for the second season.

Blue Eye Samurai. 8 episodes. Animated show set in feudal Japan. Came out in November, but just got around to watching it. Only halfway thru the series, but it’s kicking ass so far. Lots of violence, nudity, and badass sword fighting. The ‘twist’ is pretty obvious from the get go. I would barely say it qualifies as a twist, other than the set up for it being the final shot of the first episode. Peaches.

[anarky]

Life on Our Planet

Cunk on Earth

Two very, very different documentaries. Okay, documentary and mockumentary. But both on par with that photo of Jewel Staite's ninnies that (I think) DB posted elsewhere.

[Tom Foolery]

I started Cunk awhile back. Got a couple episodes in, but like most things it is unfinished. I laughed quite a bit at what I did watch.

[anarky]

Not sure if this belongs here anymore, as Netflix is dropping it this weekend (which they seem to be doing a lot lately, having decided not to renew the entire fucking Monty Python collection about a month ago, so I assume they're going all in on completely original series and hope they keep the quality up and it works for them but I have a feeling they'll opt for the cheaper option and churn out lots of reality and generic BS but it will still work out ofr them because people are stupid).

Voltron: Legendary Defender. Okay, I have a few episodes left, so, unless they botch the ending (which seems unlikely), this is one of the best reboots of an 80s property yet, perhaps the best. We all loved the original, but it was beyond formulaic (minor drama on Arus, Haggar sends a RoBeast on behalf of the current mostly interchangeable Emperor, the RoBeast beats up the lions, form Voltron complete with five minutes of canned footage, slice RoBeast in half, minor drama wraps up, the end--I just described every episode except the one where they didn't form Voltron). And there were plot holes you could drive a fucking Unicron through (Voltron is ancient... but was created by one of the main characters' father?). All the DOTU characters are fleshed out in LD (the intricate story given to "I'm a blue witch with a cat, that's literally it!" Haggar is pretty astounding), there's an ongoing central narrative, and Voltron actually gets his ass kicked a lot and various enemies and circumstances make things challenging. The animation is gorgeous (though it does lean a bit on anime tropes, if those are a turn-off), and the story never becomes predictable. The long gone G.I. Joe: Renegades is probably the closest thing I can compare it to, where elements will feel familiar, and there are definitely Easter eggs, but it's an entirely new, unique story.

Nothing's been announced, but most people online are speculating Peacock will pick it up, since it DreamWorks. Definitely worth watching wherever it goes.

And Vrepit Sa!!

[Tom Foolery]

It’s not on Netflix, but I’ve been watching the Day of the Jackal limited series over on Peacock. Nine episodes, eight of which have come out. Based on the 70s movie and/or the book that was based on, it follows a professional assassin targeting a high profile target, and the British agent who is closing in on him.

[anarky]

The Gentlemen. Crime drama about drug cartels in England, apparently a spinoff from the movie of the same name that I haven't seen but now plan to. Very well done, though Giancarlo Esposito plays an American meth kingpin who's so similar to Gus Fring that I expected him to be operating out of a fried chicken restaurant.

[Tom Foolery]

The Gentlemen. Crime drama about drug cartels in England, apparently a spinoff from the movie of the same name that I haven't seen but now plan to. Very well done, though Giancarlo Esposito plays an American meth kingpin who's so similar to Gus Fring that I expected him to be operating out of a fried chicken restaurant.

I watched the movie, but not the series. Guy Ritchie directed it. His stuff runs from excellent all the way down to ‘ugh. Avoid this shit.’
I love Snatch and his Sherlock Holmes movies, the Man from UNCLE reboot was great. But some of his more recent stuff was miserable garbage. Revolver was awful. Swept Away. Yuck.