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Discovering Netflix.... so far.

Reviews, favourites and suggestions
stevensfo
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Discovering Netflix.... so far.

#463495

Postby stevensfo » December 6th, 2021, 1:50 pm

We have access to our youngest's Netflix account and my wife caught the bug about six months ago. She always claimed she wasn't a tele person so I left her to it.

I'm more a SciFi and comedy person myself and dislike anything sad, but I will swallow my pride and admit that she seems to have found some good series.

The Israeli series 'Fauda', dubbed and with subtitles, is gripping but seems to be going on for a long time, so we gave it a break for a while.

The Swedish series Kaliphat or Caliphate is shorter and was very good. Syrian terrorists operating in Sweden, a Swedish wife desperate to leave Syria, with a Syrian husband who is supposed to be in a terrorist group but would prefer to be elsewhere. Nail-biting stuff, unforgettable ending and only about 10 episodes. You need the first episode to get used to the dubbing (Syrian women talking as though they're shopping in Guildford), but then it's great.

'Anne with an E', based on Anne of Green Gables and set in Canada c. 1899 is beautiful and despite my love of films like Terminator, I can't stop watching it. Adaptations of Anne of Green Gables have been done to death and I think the series 'Pollyanna' was based on it. This is a bit more adult and maybe not for kids under 11ish, but the camera work, scenes and acting are mesmerising.

Steve

PS If anyone ever saw the Expanse to the end, can you tell me if it's worth it? Even my youngest, who is a SciFi fan as well, admitted that it was dragging on for too long, and we stopped when they started going through that stargate thingy.

bluedonkey
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Re: Discovering Netflix.... so far.

#463518

Postby bluedonkey » December 6th, 2021, 2:39 pm

I agree, I'm a reluctant convert to Netflix but do usually end up finding something worth watching. That said, if I could no longer use it, I'm sure I'd be content with an online mixture of BBC iPlayer, All4 and Youtube.

The main negative about All4 is adverts, but the advert breaks sometimes get reduced to 10 seconds though can be as long as 3 minutes. The connection sometimes isn't as trouble-free as NF, BBC, and YT.

AF62
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Re: Discovering Netflix.... so far.

#463527

Postby AF62 » December 6th, 2021, 3:13 pm

bluedonkey wrote:The main negative about All4 is adverts, but the advert breaks sometimes get reduced to 10 seconds though can be as long as 3 minutes. The connection sometimes isn't as trouble-free as NF, BBC, and YT.


If you want to be honest you can pay them £5 a month to remove the adverts, or alternatively use OpenDNS web filtering or as I found out yesterday when I tried to access All4 from outside the UK, the paid Windscribe VPN removes them as well as giving you overseas access.

There is an awful lot of good stuff on the Walter Presents strand on All4, but stuff does have a habit of disappearing quite quickly. If it is still there, I recommend Deutschland 83, Bad Banks, The Blood Pact, Seaside Hotel, Gold Diggers, Inner Circle, Amsterdam Vice, and Sakho & Mangane.

As for Netflix, lots of series have been mentioned before, but a new series ‘Gloria’ is good.

SalvorHardin
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Re: Discovering Netflix.... so far.

#463530

Postby SalvorHardin » December 6th, 2021, 3:21 pm

stevensfo wrote:PS If anyone ever saw the Expanse to the end, can you tell me if it's worth it? Even my youngest, who is a SciFi fan as well, admitted that it was dragging on for too long, and we stopped when they started going through that stargate thingy.

Well worth it. "The Expanse" is now on Amazon Prime, having left Netflix after series 3. The sixth and final series starts next Friday (10th December). At times there isn't too much in the way of action, but remember that The Expense is an amalgam of several genres, mostly space exploration, monster on the loose, political intrigue, military and detective.

Yes, most of Netflix isn't very good but then again TV everywhere is like that. Gems amongst a sea of dross. Quite a bit of what I consider to be the good stuff has recently left Netflix UK, notably the Spanish time travel drama "El Ministerio del Tiempo" and Star Trek: Discovery (which goes downhill after series 1). Here are the main series that I've seen and really liked (I've linked to trailers for some of them.

"The Queens Gambit" - a young girl, raised in an orphanage in the 1950s, becomes a world class chess player. The show deserves all the accolades it gets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZn3qSgmLqI

"The Witcher" - swords and sorcery done right. Series 2 is released on 20th December
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndl1W4ltcmg

"Timeless" - American time travel drama which borrows very heavily from "El Ministerio del Tiempo" (but isn't as good, though it's worth watching).

"Bad Blood" - Canadian gangsters, based on a true story (the second series isn't all that good)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYEO_zI2wUA

"The Last Kingdom" - Anglo-Saxons v Vikings. Used to be on the BBC

"Wanted" - Two Australian women from very different backgrounds, have to go on the run after witnessing a crime. Hunted by cops, crooked cops and gangsters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr91XMpZ-Ms

"The English Game" - The early days of professional football. Toffs v Workers; Old Etonians v Factory teams. Created by Julian Fellows of Downton Abbey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBOlhdSYhv8

"Ultraviolet" - Polish crime drama. Amateur detectives solve crimes in large part by using social media (it's a lot better than it sounds)

"Bordertown" - Finnish crime drama set on the Russian border. Yet another oddball Nordic detective with an unusual process (I prefer Bordertown to the other oddball Nordic detective dramas, probably because I speak some Finnish (enough to see when they've taken major liberties with the subtities)).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjOFzeVynVY

"Tribes of Europa" - German drama, set many years after society has collapsed and reformed into tribes.

Films

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society" - Romantic-drama set on Guernsey during and after the Nazi occupation.

"Enola Holmes" - Sherlock's younger sister who's a chip off the old block.

"Orbiter 9" - Spanish science fiction about a young woman who has been raised by robots on-board a starship that's travelling to a newly established colony. She's the only human on board, the ship develops a fault and the colonial authorities sent out a repair ship to fix the problem. She's never seen another human and they've sent her a hunky repairman...

Documentaries

"Cricket Fever Mumbai Indians" covers one season in the Indian Premier League.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqJQf014paE

"Home Game" looks at odd sports around the world. The one about "Calcio Storico" is well worth a watch; it's an Italian mixture of rugby, football, boxing and wrestling which may date back to Roman times.

bluedonkey
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Re: Discovering Netflix.... so far.

#463537

Postby bluedonkey » December 6th, 2021, 3:32 pm

NETFLIX:

Enjoyed Queen's Gambit very much.

Despite being a cricket fan, couldn't get on with Mumbai Indians series. "This Could Go Anywhere" with Brendan McCallum and Tuffnell was a good laugh with some occasional insights into what it's like as a professional cricketer; pretty light viewing.

Watched all of "Humans" recently, three series. Found it gripping, thought provoking, though that doesn't take much.

More light viewing, episodes of just 20 minutes: "Midnight Diner". Japanese drama series about diner that opens from midnight to 7am.

stevensfo
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Re: Discovering Netflix.... so far.

#463546

Postby stevensfo » December 6th, 2021, 4:08 pm

SalvorHardin wrote:
stevensfo wrote:PS If anyone ever saw the Expanse to the end, can you tell me if it's worth it? Even my youngest, who is a SciFi fan as well, admitted that it was dragging on for too long, and we stopped when they started going through that stargate thingy.

Well worth it. "The Expanse" is now on Amazon Prime, having left Netflix after series 3. The sixth and final series starts next Friday (10th December). At times there isn't too much in the way of action, but remember that The Expense is an amalgam of several genres, mostly space exploration, monster on the loose, political intrigue, military and detective.

Yes, most of Netflix isn't very good but then again TV everywhere is like that. Gems amongst a sea of dross. Quite a bit of what I consider to be the good stuff has recently left Netflix UK, notably the Spanish time travel drama "El Ministerio del Tiempo" and Star Trek: Discovery (which goes downhill after series 1). Here are the main series that I've seen and really liked (I've linked to trailers for some of them.

"The Queens Gambit" - a young girl, raised in an orphanage in the 1950s, becomes a world class chess player. The show deserves all the accolades it gets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZn3qSgmLqI

"The Witcher" - swords and sorcery done right. Series 2 is released on 20th December
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndl1W4ltcmg

"Timeless" - American time travel drama which borrows very heavily from "El Ministerio del Tiempo" (but isn't as good, though it's worth watching).

"Bad Blood" - Canadian gangsters, based on a true story (the second series isn't all that good)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYEO_zI2wUA

"The Last Kingdom" - Anglo-Saxons v Vikings. Used to be on the BBC

"Wanted" - Two Australian women from very different backgrounds, have to go on the run after witnessing a crime. Hunted by cops, crooked cops and gangsters
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tr91XMpZ-Ms

"The English Game" - The early days of professional football. Toffs v Workers; Old Etonians v Factory teams. Created by Julian Fellows of Downton Abbey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hBOlhdSYhv8

"Ultraviolet" - Polish crime drama. Amateur detectives solve crimes in large part by using social media (it's a lot better than it sounds)

"Bordertown" - Finnish crime drama set on the Russian border. Yet another oddball Nordic detective with an unusual process (I prefer Bordertown to the other oddball Nordic detective dramas, probably because I speak some Finnish (enough to see when they've taken major liberties with the subtities)).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DjOFzeVynVY

"Tribes of Europa" - German drama, set many years after society has collapsed and reformed into tribes.

Films

"The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society" - Romantic-drama set on Guernsey during and after the Nazi occupation.

"Enola Holmes" - Sherlock's younger sister who's a chip off the old block.

"Orbiter 9" - Spanish science fiction about a young woman who has been raised by robots on-board a starship that's travelling to a newly established colony. She's the only human on board, the ship develops a fault and the colonial authorities sent out a repair ship to fix the problem. She's never seen another human and they've sent her a hunky repairman...

Documentaries

"Cricket Fever Mumbai Indians" covers one season in the Indian Premier League.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hqJQf014paE

"Home Game" looks at odd sports around the world. The one about "Calcio Storico" is well worth a watch; it's an Italian mixture of rugby, football, boxing and wrestling which may date back to Roman times.


Yes, I forgot about Queens Gambit. Brilliant!!
I will mention Ultraviolet. My wife is Polish so it will keep her happy for a while. Then again, Polish TV is really quite nice, rather like UK used to be 30 years ago.

Steve

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Re: Discovering Netflix.... so far.

#463548

Postby Mike88 » December 6th, 2021, 4:12 pm

Homeland, House of Cards and Fargo are essential viewing.

bluedonkey
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Re: Discovering Netflix.... so far.

#463563

Postby bluedonkey » December 6th, 2021, 4:55 pm

Mike88 wrote:Homeland, House of Cards and Fargo are essential viewing.

Absolutely agree with your last two but found Homeland too much of a soap opera.

SalvorHardin
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Re: Discovering Netflix.... so far.

#463691

Postby SalvorHardin » December 7th, 2021, 12:58 am

I forgot "Altered Carbon". Dystopian Cyberpunk murder mystery with some major social and technological changes from today. The big development is that mind mapping technology allows a person's mind to be recorded, stored and then put into another body (a "sleeve").

A criminal/terrorist, dead for 250 years, is brought back to life by a staggeringly rich client who was recently murdered but was brought back despite the murderer wiping out his mind backup (he has extra backups, being so rich, most people can only afford the "stack" implanted in their brain stem). The client wants the murderer found and is a bit pissed off to have been murdered.

House of Cards. Very good, but IMHO it's best to pretend that the final series didn't exist (major character written out due to actor's legal problems offscreen and the show falls apart).

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Re: Discovering Netflix.... so far.

#463794

Postby absolutezero » December 7th, 2021, 11:31 am

"Money Heist" is very clever.
I'm just at the end of Season 2 - There are 5 in total.

A criminal mastermind who goes by the alias "The Professor" has a plan to pull off the biggest heist in recorded history -- to print billions of euros in the Royal Mint of Spain. To help him carry out the ambitious plan, he recruits eight people with certain abilities and who have nothing to lose. The group of thieves take hostages to aid in their negotiations with the authorities, who strategise to come up with a way to capture The Professor. As more time elapses, the robbers prepare for a showdown with the police.

Though I prefer its original Spanish name. La Casa de Papel - The House of Paper.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fvCdLmxnkj0

But don't be watching it dubbed. Subtitled original Spanish is much better. (As with all foreign films/TV.)
And don't Google ANYTHING. Spoliers.


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