Tag: What I’ve been Watching


Aug
2016

TV Recommendations – August 2016

categories: What I've been Watching

There’s been very little to watch and with the summer holidays in full swing, I’ve made it my mission to rewatch Gilmore Girls and anything else Netflix can throw at me. In the mean time (and because Phil hates Gilmore Girls!), we’ve been watching a few other things.

TV recommendations_August

[Stranger Things – Netflix || Bloodline – Netflix
Ray Donovan – Now TV || The Catch – Now TV]

I saw lots of people tweeting about Stranger Things and when faced with a TV drought, Phil and I thought we’d give it a go. I didn’t know what it was about except that it was set in the 80’s, which is fine by me. It is brilliant! If you haven’t watched it, add it to your watchlist and set aside some time for it. There are only eight episodes, so it leaves plenty of time for other shows. It’s kind of a mix of The Goonies, ET and Stand by Me, with a hint of Pretty in Pink. It’s definitely worth the hype. Plus, it stars 80’s queen, Winona Ryder, who is great in it. Though, it’s the kids who are the out and out stars here. They are fab!

I’d seen Netflix advertise Bloodline and even gave it a bit of a go a while back, but it didn’t really stick. Phil saw a recommendation on Twitter, so we’d thought we’d give it a go. I’m going to warn you here, it is a bit of a slow burner. The first few episodes are a bit dull, none of the characters are that likable (even the wonderful Coach Taylor) however, we stuck with it and it was worth it. It is so tense and so gripping that I feel like I’m holding my breath the whole time. I cannot stand Danny, one of the main characters. He is pure evil! Netflix already has series 2 available and I saw that series 3 is coming next year, so there’s plenty of TV to be had here.

We’ve been watching Ray Donovan for a while and I’m so glad that it’s back. It’s quite dark in places, as it deals with child abuse from within the Catholic church, and Ray is a ‘fixer’ for the wealthy and powerful in LA. There are times when he has to do horrible things, including dealing with his spoilt kids and his rather offensive father. His brothers are the real gems of the show though, as they are brilliant characters. This is definitely one not to miss.

After all the drama and darkness of the other shows we’ve been watching, you need something lighthearted. The Catch is the latest hit from Shonda Rimes and revolves around a female private investigator who finds out the love of her life is not what he seems. As you would expect from Shonda Rimes, it is light, breezy and very glossy. While it’s not quite Scandal or the classic that is Grey’s Anatomy, it’s still a good watch.

I’m looking forward to a few shows coming back on TV, including The Walking Dead and the new (hopefully not final) series of Gilmore Girls. I have them written in my Filofax. Yes, I’m that much of a nerd!


Jul
2016

TV Recommendations – July 2016

categories: What I've been Watching

There have been TV highs and lows at Crafty Chai towers this month. We tried three new shows (Versailles, New Blood and Outlander) in a short space of time and all three left me despairing for the state of TV. With GoT promising only two more series and The Good Wife waving a very sad and less than stellar goodbye (seriously, what went wrong there?!), it makes me worry for the state of TV to come. All the good shows are coming to an end or having a limited shelf life (I’m pretty sure I’m going to need therapy when they announce that TWD will be coming to an end), there’s not a lot coming up that’s really grabbing my interest. Hence the appearance of The Gilmore Girls below.

TV Recommendations_July

[Outcast – Fox via NowTV || Billions – Sky Atlantic
Gilmore Girls – Netflix || Orange is the New Black – Netflix]

Outcast is made by the same guy who makes The Walking Dead. When I found this out, I perked right up. Creepiness, gore and tortured characters ahoy. Sadly no walkers, but plenty of good ol’ fashioned demonic possession and what’s not to love about that? So far, it hasn’t disappointed. There’s plenty of tension, a few creepy characters and a tortured main character who just wants to protect his family. Not really ideal for the faint hearted, so if you’re a bit squeamish, then maybe avoid this one, but if, like me, you enjoy a dabble in the darker, weirder aspects of life, then take a chance on Outcast.

We stumbled across Billions (or Billionaires as I insist on calling it!) one night on Now TV and thought we’d give it a go, mainly because of the cast lineup. After every scene change, we’re like ‘Isn’t that such and such from what’s it called?’ or ‘What were they in?’. This is because Billions is where actors from other TV shows all come together. It stars Damien Lewis as a billionaire who runs a hedge fund management company (I think, this area of the financial world is a complete mystery to me!) and Paul Giamatti plays the US attorney who is out to get him. There’s tension, a lot of swearing and a lot of financial talk which is lost on me, but it’s good enough to keep me entertained for now.

I know Gilmore Girls isn’t new, but all seven series are now on Netflix in preparation for their return for a one off series (though I’m sure many GG fans have everything crossed that it’ll be so hugely successful that they’ll have to make more). Despite having them all on dvd, this means I can watch them all in any room in the house on my iPad, which I’ve already started doing. I plan to watch all seven series over the summer. We all need goals!

I have to admit that the last series of OITNB didn’t enthrall me as much as other series have. However, this series was not like that and a delightful return to form, albeit with a dark twist. Okay, a few dark twists. This series had me guessing  at every turn and there were tears when something horrific happens to one of the main characters. No spoilers here! I don’t know how much longer it can go on, but if the next few series are of this standard, then I for one will be looking forward to their return.


Jan
2016

TV Recommendations – January 2016

categories: What I've been Watching

I watch a lot of TV. I have no shame in this. It’s something I enjoy doing, it doesn’t cost very much and for me, it’s a great way to unwind after a busy day. Because of that, I get through a lot of TV, some good, some great, some awful but it passes the time!

One of the things I do enjoy about the winter months is that when it’s dark and miserable outside, you can be cosying up inside without feeling guilty about it. Over the Christmas break, Phil and I planned to do some serious sitting, as like most people, we had such a busy run up to the holidays. Here’s what we got our teeth into:

January 2016 TV recommendations

{Making a Murderer – Netflix || Fargo Series 2 – iTunes || The Bridge Series 3 – BBC4 || Homeland Series 5 – Channel 4}

Making a Murderer popped onto my Netflix ‘Recently Added’ and I didn’t think much about it, but then I started seeing some Twitter and Facebook support for it. I gave it a go on my own, and before long realised that, due to it’s similarities to Serial, in that it’s a true crime documentary, I thought Phil might like it too so we watched it together. I think it’s fair to say that we were gripped by it very quickly. I know that the justice system isn’t perfect in any country, and I’ve seen plenty of CSI and crime dramas to know (or think I know!) certain things you’d need to prosecute someone (thank you, Good Wife!) but this documentary leaves you reeling. There were so many times when I’d say, ‘That’s circumstantial evidence!’ or ‘Where’s the DNA?’ I don’t want to give too much away as it’ll spoil it, but it certainly has you questioning everything you thought you knew about crime and police work.

I really liked the first series of Fargo, in fact, I thought it was better than the film it was based on. I didn’t really hold out much hope for series 3, so much so that we didn’t watch it when it was on Channel 4. We had to buy it from iTunes after we thought we’d give it a go over the holidays. We both loved it! It’s so different to the first series, but charming, funny and dramatic all the same. Plus, you get to say things like ‘aw, jeez’ all the time. Brilliant viewing.

After the way series two of The Bridge ended, I wasn’t really sure what to expect of series three. Personally, I think this was the best series yet. Saga was her usual fascinating self, but there were lots of other twists and turns that showed some of her different sides. The new characters really added to the mix and the main murders that Saga was investigating had me scratching my head. I had no idea who was behind them, gruesome and weird though they were. Don’t be put off by the subtitles. This is really an excellent series.

To be honest, I thought Homeland had had its day. I thought the last series was a bit boring so I only put this on while I was washing up. However, this series was sooooo much better than the last one. It was back to its brilliant, intriguing and fascinating roots. Carrie was back on top form. She no longer works for the CIA but that doesn’t stop her getting embroiled in a new security threat. As the main story in the series reflects modern life in a scarily accurate way, it makes for unmissable viewing. I hope this return to form continues with series 6.


Oct
2014

What I’ve Been Watching – September

categories: What I've been Watching

As Autumn really gets underway, TV series new and old start appearing on our screens. A few gems I’m looking forward to are The Walking Dead, American Horror Story (though lets hope it’s an improvement on last series) and The Fall. While I wait for those, here’s what I watched in September

TV

I haven’t heard anyone talking about this series at all, but I was really interested in watching it. It’s Tom Selleck in it for crying out loud, how back can it be?! Well, not great. At least, not the first series. It’s obvious, a little dry and so incredibly ridiculous, I couldn’t quite believe it. However, we persevered with it and it has got better, though it does very much feel like Tom’s family are single handedly fighting crime in New York! It’s easy on the brain, so if you want something on in the background, this is a good one to go for. I will admit that I never really got into the original UK version of the Office, but this was on Netflix and I had some stuff to do in my study so popped it on for some background noise. Soon enough I was laughing along to it and was completely distracted by the show. I love Steve Carrell. I think the man is a comedic genius, just watch 40 year old virgin and you’ll know what I mean. This show is brilliant. Thank you Netflix for bringing it into my world!
This is another show that I keep seeing advertised on Netflix, you know how it does that ‘You might like this because you watched a tv show once’ thing? This was what they suggested. It’s got Glenn Close in it so how bad can it be? Well, like Blue Bloods, it takes a little warming up and it has a definite formula that gets really old, really fast. Series 3 was the best in my opinion and I wasn’t disappointed to see it ended after series 5. Most TV shows shouldn’t last beyond 5 seasons (The Walking Dead is exempt from this!) It’s an okay series, but not worth staying in for. I very nearly didn’t persevere with this. I thought the first episode was so awful, with terrible over acting and bad fake British accents, that I nearly didn’t carry on. However, my OH wanted to see how it went so we continued on. I’m really glad we did. I really like the unique storyline, and find the idea of human cloning so terrifying but so inevitable that I continue to watch it. Plus the characters have grown on me and I kind of want to see what happens. I’ve only watched the first series, so have a little catching up to do but am very happy to keep going .

Film

I’m not a huge fan of war films, because I hate war, but wanted to see this film as it was a true story. It’s worth while to remember that, because the violence in it is incredibly brutal, but what does unfold is truly amazing and shows that humanity still exists, even when you’ve given up hope. I don’t want to give away what happens, but its worth a watch. I had such high hopes for this film. I loved Michael Pitt in Boardwalk Empire and really wanted this film to be great (especially as the other offerings were not). While it started really well, and was full of action and intrigue, after a while, it just got a bit tedious. So much so, I was looking forward to the end. Fine if there’s absolutely nothing else to watch.
I loved, loved, loved this film. Tilda Swinton can do no wrong in my eyes and both she and Tom Hiddleston are brilliant in this, as age old vampires. It’s an incredibly eccentric and unique film. Watch it immediately! This film was awful and I was so disappointed because I love a good comic book film & I’m a huge fan of Samuel L Jackson. I didn’t care if Captain America lived or died. Marvel needs to do something different or just stop.