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What the Bear is Watching - 2022 Edition
Feb. 8th, 2022 07:35 amSince the weather is crappy and the days are short, I have been watching a lot of TV. That's OK. This is my downtime season. I kinda like hibernating a little bit. Fortunately there is a lot of good stuff to watch.
"The Mayor of Kingstown" - Paramount+ - Jeremy Renner can be more than Hawkeye. He plays a strange character who acts as a go-between in a prison town between the police, the prison guards, and the gangs inside. He tries to make a very broken and corrupt system work. Very gritty.
"After Life" - Netflix - They wrap up the series where Ricky Gervais plays a mourning husband who slowly gives up thoughts of suicide and instead embraces life. Sure, it's sappy and sentimental, but also funny.
"The Expanse" - Amazon - I think this might also be the last season for this critically-acclaimed sci-fi. They tied everything up and ended on a good note.
"Centaurworld" - I saw this mentioned on a furry site somewhere, and it sounded interesting. I called it "My Little Pony" meets "Adventuretime." It looks like it's made for kids, but some of the humor and situations are definitely NOT for kids. It seems that you either love it or hate it. Put me in the "love" column.
"The Witcher" - Netflix - I finally gave in and decided to give this sword-and-sorcery show a try. It came out right after "G.o.T." had ended, and everyone said it was going to be the next big thing. So far it has been alright. I was having a tough time trying to keep the different stories straight (just like I did with my first 2 attempts at GoT), but now I think I got the thing figured out. It's OK. It's has been keeping our interest and we are willing to invest in S2.
"Cobra Kai" - I'm back at watching the modern-day update to "The Karate Kid." I think the show is approaching the shark tank where they can either jump over them or just call it quits. Now they're incorporating characters from the movie "Karate Kid 3." Bringing in plot points from 2 was bad enough, but now you're going into the "direct to DVD" category. The plot just isn't fresh and fun any more. It's starting to take itself too seriously instead of just being campy fun. I'm done after this season.
"The Book of Boba Fett - Disney+ - Disney keeps cranking out side stories to the Star Wars universe. Fortunately, they have been well done, for the most part. They're even doing crossovers with "The Mandalorian." Keep that merchandising machine cranking! The stories are fun and well-written. They probably have nice budgets, so the special effects are top notch. Just good escapism television.
Movies:
"Power of the Dog" - There has been a lot of Oscar buzz around this Netflix movie, so we gave it a watch. I just see that the Oscar nominations came out this morning and this film is at the top of the list. How timely! It's very well done. It reminded me a lot of "No Country for Old Men" or "There Will Be Blood" (2 of my favorites). I'll probably have to watch it again. Benedict Cumberbatch does a great job as a brooding cowboy. It's very much character-driven which is great because the acting is so good. I hope it wins!
"Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool" - Netflix - I had been wanting to see this documentary about the famous jazz trumpet player and it finally became available. I like his music, especially his early stuff. You can keep the more modern stuff. He lived a really fascinating life and contributed so much to jazz. It was a pleasure to watch. It lead me to my next movie.
"Elevator to the Gallows" - HBO - In the Miles Davis doc, they mentioned that he scored a French movie when he was living in Paris in the 50's. It was the first time that a movie score was written by the movie being played on a screen in the studio and the musician simply improvised for the mood the director wanted for that scene. The score was a huge hit in the States which lead to people also wanting to see the foreign movie. It is very noir with a man killing his lover's husband but the plot goes horribly wrong when he gets trapped in an elevator while some punk steals his identity who then commits another murder. I thought it would be pretentious crap, but it was actually very exciting. OK. There is some pretentious crap as the lover wanders the streets of Paris wondering where her lover has disappeared to. But Davis' score makes it cool.
"The Mayor of Kingstown" - Paramount+ - Jeremy Renner can be more than Hawkeye. He plays a strange character who acts as a go-between in a prison town between the police, the prison guards, and the gangs inside. He tries to make a very broken and corrupt system work. Very gritty.
"After Life" - Netflix - They wrap up the series where Ricky Gervais plays a mourning husband who slowly gives up thoughts of suicide and instead embraces life. Sure, it's sappy and sentimental, but also funny.
"The Expanse" - Amazon - I think this might also be the last season for this critically-acclaimed sci-fi. They tied everything up and ended on a good note.
"Centaurworld" - I saw this mentioned on a furry site somewhere, and it sounded interesting. I called it "My Little Pony" meets "Adventuretime." It looks like it's made for kids, but some of the humor and situations are definitely NOT for kids. It seems that you either love it or hate it. Put me in the "love" column.
"The Witcher" - Netflix - I finally gave in and decided to give this sword-and-sorcery show a try. It came out right after "G.o.T." had ended, and everyone said it was going to be the next big thing. So far it has been alright. I was having a tough time trying to keep the different stories straight (just like I did with my first 2 attempts at GoT), but now I think I got the thing figured out. It's OK. It's has been keeping our interest and we are willing to invest in S2.
"Cobra Kai" - I'm back at watching the modern-day update to "The Karate Kid." I think the show is approaching the shark tank where they can either jump over them or just call it quits. Now they're incorporating characters from the movie "Karate Kid 3." Bringing in plot points from 2 was bad enough, but now you're going into the "direct to DVD" category. The plot just isn't fresh and fun any more. It's starting to take itself too seriously instead of just being campy fun. I'm done after this season.
"The Book of Boba Fett - Disney+ - Disney keeps cranking out side stories to the Star Wars universe. Fortunately, they have been well done, for the most part. They're even doing crossovers with "The Mandalorian." Keep that merchandising machine cranking! The stories are fun and well-written. They probably have nice budgets, so the special effects are top notch. Just good escapism television.
Movies:
"Power of the Dog" - There has been a lot of Oscar buzz around this Netflix movie, so we gave it a watch. I just see that the Oscar nominations came out this morning and this film is at the top of the list. How timely! It's very well done. It reminded me a lot of "No Country for Old Men" or "There Will Be Blood" (2 of my favorites). I'll probably have to watch it again. Benedict Cumberbatch does a great job as a brooding cowboy. It's very much character-driven which is great because the acting is so good. I hope it wins!
"Miles Davis: Birth of the Cool" - Netflix - I had been wanting to see this documentary about the famous jazz trumpet player and it finally became available. I like his music, especially his early stuff. You can keep the more modern stuff. He lived a really fascinating life and contributed so much to jazz. It was a pleasure to watch. It lead me to my next movie.
"Elevator to the Gallows" - HBO - In the Miles Davis doc, they mentioned that he scored a French movie when he was living in Paris in the 50's. It was the first time that a movie score was written by the movie being played on a screen in the studio and the musician simply improvised for the mood the director wanted for that scene. The score was a huge hit in the States which lead to people also wanting to see the foreign movie. It is very noir with a man killing his lover's husband but the plot goes horribly wrong when he gets trapped in an elevator while some punk steals his identity who then commits another murder. I thought it would be pretentious crap, but it was actually very exciting. OK. There is some pretentious crap as the lover wanders the streets of Paris wondering where her lover has disappeared to. But Davis' score makes it cool.
