Posted on 07/23/2017 4:56:36 AM PDT by Chickensoup
This is a slow Sunday morning.
I am not much of a vid watcher. And for over 25 years we didn't have a TV. Back a few years ago I found a TV, with Freeper input and have Netflix. To me the TV is a great going to the theater experience.
I have been watching different things on the TV for occasional entertainment for the past couple of years, Netflix both streaming and DVD.
I have discovered that most shows that I have watched, both the compelling ones that I have enjoyed like Longmire, Bluebloods, and even Father Brown have significant violence and show gross dead bodies.
I understand that the public is used to this and that over the past couple of decades, people have watched shows about dead and decaying bodies.
I am amazed at this turn of events. Almost every show and film I find has some sort of murder, often by some bizarre sicko. Death-porn packaged into otherwise nice storylines.
I enjoy shows like Last Man Standing, Mad Men, 30 Below, films like Primer, Silver Linings Playbook. I am looking for recommendations that are perhaps more about a story, a situation, a relational issue that is compelling.
I have started renting DVDs through Netflix and am going through their old films, where face it, film-makers did not use sensationalism in the place of fine script writing and directing. So I have some of the old films covered.
I think of that scene in The Searchers where John Wayne returns from finding the body of a girl whose kidnappers he was tracking, and he said when asked what happened, with full painful angry emotion in his voice: What do you want me to do? Draw you a picture? That one sentence, acted in such a profound way, gave the viewer everything he needed to know about this poor child and her death and how the protagonists were going to proceed.
So if you can recommend a film or series that you enjoyed that is interesting and doesn't make its centerpiece death and destruction, I would love to hear about it.
That’s funny!
Lost City of Z
Sounds interesting.
watched all of them, except for the last season. Enjoyed them very much although when I went back to Upstairs, Downstairs I found that the camera work was so crude compared to today, that I did not enjoy it the way I first did on the small screen in the seventies.
Our viewing has changed dramatically. We just can't watch the news, like we used to do for hours. OANN is our news fix, you get everything you need right there in about an hour. (Did you know there was news happening outside Washington DC?). We are still exploring Netflix and Amazon Prime. We are using Amazon Fire TV and DirectNowTV (not Direct Now). TV has become friendly again at our house.
Deutschland 83
_____________
That sounds fascinating. Thank you.
The new Sherlock series available on PBS or DVD’s is absolutely awesome. Cumberbatch is Sherlock.
I assume you mean the new Father Brown? I haven’t seen the originals (available on Netflix DVD IIRC), but I gather that the new version is crap that basically inverts the originals.
I just watched a good one yesterday. “One of My Wives Is Missing.” A tv movie from the ‘70s.
A favorite: “Inherit the Wind.”
You’ve probably seen both. Also, some years ago I got a dvd of old Hitchcock tv dramas, most were very enjoyable and the violence mostly implied and offscreen.
I share your pain. Every time I go to a bookstore I see an “undead” creature within sixty seconds. In clothing stores even the toddler shirts can be found that have skulls on them. Two-headed skeletal rotting corpse dolls are popular.
The Days of the Condor was a fine book, too. And it had a sequel that was fine, too.
As for vids, one might try The Dead Zone, Doctor Zhivago, 36 hours (with James Garner).
I remember reading the book, IIRC. this film is good? On my list now, thank you.
Sorry. Day not Days.
The Feynman Lectures on Physics
Love his books, I bet his lectures are interesting, I will take a peek, is he on Youtube?
Is “cerebreal” a mix of “cerebral” and “cereal”? It makes me think of a skull full of oatmeal. And that makes me think of my 4th and 6th sons, sigh ...
Yes, I believe so.
BTW, folks here have mentioned Downton Abbey. If you like that, I would recommend a Spanish series, hopefully still available on Netflix, called Gran Hotel. Like Downton Abbey but with more pizazz.
“Not Without My Daughter”
“Places in the Heart”
Sally Field
You should catch up on the last season since a movie is now being planned.
PlateOfShrimp’s “The Feynman Lectures on Physics”, that is.
Field of Dreams
The King’s Speech
Chariots of Fire
The Imitation Game
Julie & Julia
Here Comes Mr Jordan
Long Gray Line
Bells of St Mary
Portrait of Jennie
Laura
Love of the Game
We have had the Father Brown books on cd and listened individually and as a family. Wonderful books. The series left a lot to be desired. I was initially hooked by the Cotswold scenes for I am a big Miss Read fan, and frankly, want heaven to be either Fairacre or Thrush Green.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.