I wanna try a weekly 'what are you watching' thread, and see if there's enough activity.
Here's some of the shows I've been watching last week:
- Loki (Season 2)
- Finished watching it last week. It is probably my favorite post Thanos MCU show. I like the character growth, and while I usually dislike Thor's story (due to magic and gods), I ended up liking Loki a lot
- Fringe (Season 4)
- Started season 4 of Fringe. Man! I love this show a lot. I can't wait to be disappointed in the final season.
- Nathan for You (Season 4)
- Finally finished the whole show. I love the part where Nathan needed to prepare for his Jimmy Kimmel interview. The last episode started out good, but I ended up disliking Bill, after his comments about what Frances said long time ago.
- Impractical Jokers (Season 1)
- I learned about Impractical Jokers from Instagram videos, decided to try it. Season 1 is kinda dated, but some parts are really hilarious. I think I only like prank shows, when they are making fun of themselves.
- Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated (Season 1)
- Dropped the show altogether, I find it boring.
- Castlevania: Nocturne (Season 1)
- Feels like other Castlevania shows, I'm on episode 3, and it still hasn't hooked me yet
- Gunbuster (Season 1)
- I am really enjoying the feel of this old anime. It went quickly from sports-mech anime into darker / more serious tone in episode 2. There's something about older anime that's kinda lost in the newer ones, I can't quite put my words into it.
- Amazing Stories (1985) (Season 1)
- I'm now at episode 8. The quality varies between episodes, since it's an anthology show. I like the episode with the mummy, and the keyboard murderer.
- The Adults (2023)
- I'm weirdly liking this movie a lot, it's more drama than comedy. It's quite a sweet movie about straining relationships between 3 siblings, without anything really bombastic happening, and probably why it's more relatable to me.
So, what have you been watching the past week?
Impractical Jokers is a guilty pleasure of mine. It's a pretty "dumb" show, often crass, occasionally a little mean spirited. But I love watching real people have genuine fun (love bloopers for the same reason) and I do generally believe that's what these guys are doing. And you are right, in almost everything I've seen, they themselves are the butts of the jokes.
I'm trying to get back into watching movies, which used to be a major passion of mine, after a couple years not keeping up. I watched Ida this week, about a Polish nun in the sixties who meets her last living relative before swearing her vows and learns she's Jewish. The two of them travel to the family's hometown to learn exactly what happened to her parents during WWII. It was slow and immersive, as much care given to the sound design as the cinematography, and an absolutely powerhouse performance from Agata Kulesza as the aunt.
So far in season 1, I've only seen 1 instance where the whole crew came out and told the couple at the laundry shop that they're in a prank show. Do they reveal that to the other people? Also how does US privacy regulations work in the case of prank shows? Do they need to ask people to sign a release afterwards?
Dunno. You're allowed to film people freely in most places where there's no reasonable expectation of privacy, but maybe when there's commercial benefit from publication, a release is needed? I honestly have no idea.
And I've never really thought about it, but they do seem to rarely show a reveal, probably because the focus is supposed to be on them, whereas with something like Candid Camera and its ilk, the uninvolved subjects are the focus.
It's been a while since I've seen Ida, but I remember liking it a lot. If you're looking for something similar, I think Philomena with Judy Dench is excellent.
Nice, added to the list! I also have Cold War on my list from the same director as Ida. Looks very similar too, stylistically.