Category Archives: film and tv

Watched January – February 2021.

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Not a massive amount watched , but here we go.

TV/Streaming series:
Sense8, season 2 (Netflix) (re-watch)
The Expanse (Amazon Prime Video) (re-started due to not remembering enough):
Season 1 – 5, very good 8/10 overall, this may change on a re-watch.
Cobra Kai, seasons 1, 2, 3. Good fun and some very good moments, 7/10

Films:
Jupiter Ascending (Wachowskis) – 8/10

Interstellar 9/10 – I like the philosophical aspects. Also the use of family communication made me think of Contact, and also a bit of Babylon 5.

Starting (part re-watch of) Marvel Cinematic Universe:
Iron Man 7/10

 

The Expanse TV Series

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A few years ago I started watching The Expanse on Netflix, then it was moved to Amazon. Unfortunately Amazon (Prime/Video) was not available in Denmark at that time, so I only got to watch a bit of the series.

Now I do have access to Amazon Prime, so it is time to revisit The Expanse.

Because I had forgotten large parts of the story, I started all over again. That is a good move, I think, because even if I recall some stuff, I can enjoy what I (re-)discover in the series.

Another reason is that at the latest Fedcon in 2019 we had a string of star guests from The expanse, whetting the appetite for the series when it became available.

Many have compared The Expanse to my favourite story on TV, Babylon 5, so I am looking forward to diving deeper into the story. It just might have the same re-watchability.

Until now I have watched seasons 1 to 5, and I am enjoying it very much. Excellent story telling and beautiful visuals.

A final season 6 has been announced, here is to hoping that it will be up to expectations.

Watched May – December 2020.

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Even while being in isolation, more or less, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, not a great amount of TV series or films have been watched. Other activities, such as some electronics building projects, have taken some of the time, so here is the list:

TV/streaming series:
Better Than Us (Netflix), season 1, 8/10
Star Trek: Picard (Netflix), season 1, 8/10
Agents of SHIELD, season 2, 7/10
Good Omens, season 1 (Amazon), 8/10
The Umbrella Academy, season 2, 7/10
Agents of SHIELD, season 3, 8/10
Dark, seasons 1,2,3 (Netflix) 8/10
Star Trek: Discovery, season 3 8/10
The Flash, season 6 up to episode 19 Season finale?
Sense8, season 1 re-watch

Films:
All the Harry potter movies, from
– Philosopher’s Stone – to – Deathly Hallows. I had seen most of them, but not Deathly Hallows It was good to revisit this universe.

At Christmas I got 2 books in the Dresden Files series, and I should find time to read them, too.
The graphic novel “The Resistance”, vol. 1 written by Straczynski came in. I had seen the separate issues online, but still need to read the story as a whole some time soon. There is a second series on the way, and I am looking forward to see that.

I just started watching “The Expanse”. I had seen a few seasons on Netflix when it was available there, but because Amazon Prime was not yet available until lately, I had not seen recent seasons. Also, I did not have the story present in memory, therefore starting all over again. What I have now (re-)watched is better than I remembered, so I am looking forward to watching more.

Not too much news, but I expect to be a bit more active on the blog this year.

Watching Activity January to April, 2020

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This year has been crazy.

I managed to go to a single convention before our lives were turned upside-down by the COVID-19 pandemic. I expect to be more or less isolated, at least until the end of this year, as I am in the group with higher risk of complications if I catch the virus.

During the isolation I had expected to watch more films and TV series, but following the news and building some electronics projects has taken more time than I expected. Here is the list for January to April 2020:

TV series:

Re-watch of Sense8. As always, excellent.

DC: Arrow, seasons 6 and 7. Pretty good. 8/10

DC: Titans, season 2. 7/10

Forbrydelsen (English title: The Killing, Danish crime drama) Season 1. 8/10

DC: Crisis on Infinite Earths, This year’s cross over mini series. I liked it. 8/10

Matador (Danish drama series from the late 70s, early 80s) (English title: Monopoly (as the board game)) Very good. 9/10

DC: Black Lightning, Season 3. I like it a lot. 8/10

Kingdom (Korean SF/Netflix) season 2. Good story. 8/10

Re-watch of Babylon 5, seasons 1, 2 and 3. As always excellent. 9/10

Film:

Marvel: Venom

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. 8/10

That’s it. Maybe I will get to read/watch etc some Hugo Award nominees.

I am glad that J. Michael Straczynski’s autobiography “Becoming Superman” was nominated. It was a stunning read, even if I knew some details.

Re-Watch: Babylon 5.

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After a pause in binge watching of Babylon 5, I re-started, because I expect to meet with a lot of other B5 fans soon.

I just finished the first season, and I will say that I still do not understand the people calling Michael O’Hare’s acting “wooden”. It may be a bit understated, but at times, just a facial expression tells more than many words.

While season 1 is not the strongest of the series, it serves very well for setting up the story, and a great introduction to the main characters, and a glimpse of what is to come.

Here is an example: The much maligned episode TKO has one of the really strong character moments for Ivanova. I know that many skip the episode, but then they miss out on this excellent character moment, and a follow up to a small thread from a previous episode.

I will rate my re-viewing of this season as 8/10

Watched etc. In December 2019.

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Not too much this month, other activities, including family traditions, took over this month:

Finished season 1 of “His Dark Materials” on HBO. Very good

9/10

Finished Gotham, seasons 3 and 4. Average,

7/10

Finished Bletchley Circle, and Bletchley Circle – San Francisco. I like them.

8/10

Listened to:

Finished audio book:
Terry Pratchett: Mort
Good fun, Pratchett has a quirky sense of humour, and it feels like he had fun writing this.
Rating 8/10.

 

TV: His Dark Materials, Season 1.

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I have just watched the season 1 finale of the TV adaptation of Pullman’s His Dark Materials.

This is excellent fantasy on TV. Here is my quick review:

Lyra sets out on a quest to find other missing children. A story of fanaticism, multiple worlds, armoured bears and, of course, betrayal.

I liked this quite a bit, and I want to revisit it, especially when new season(s) come, and my quick rating is:

9/10

Gotham, Seasons 1 – 4 Impressions.

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I have now watched 4 seasons of Gotham, available on Netflix here. I have heard that there is a season 5, but it is not available, at least not now.

Gotham covers the development of Bruce Wayne and other characters from the time of the murder of his parents.

The series is quite fun to watch, the proto-villains are outrageously over-the-top. All are absolutely mad in a very cartoon-ish way. I wonder if a title like “City of Lunatics” should be considered for the series.

The development of Jim Gordon is probably the most well covered aspect of the series, I have considered if the series should have been called the “Jim Gordon” show.

While I have no plans for re-watching this series (there is far too much good stuff out there), I did enjoy watching it.

Rating of seasons 1 – 4: 7/10

Watched In November

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Finished season 1 of The Umbrella Academy. Time travel, apocalypse etc. Was well entertained.
7/10 (solid)
Finished “The Spy”, limited 6 episode series.
Solid 7/10
Finished “The Order”, season 1.
OK, not spectacular, 7/10

Re-watch:
Lord of the Rings (theatrical versions):
1) Fellowship of the Ring. Lots of material from the book is missing. The shifting mood of the books are mostly retained, and well done.
8/10
2) The Two Towers
Lots of good stuff from the books is missing
7/10
3) The Return of the King.
Again good stuff from the books missing, but still has the emotional effect. Maybe because I know the books so well.
9/10
Still rating the theatrical releases as a whole:
8/10