How has this thread gone over 100 posts with no one fixing the title...

 

So are/were there any interesting and good new TV shows this fall? Especially something with a bit of action?

 

I'm enjoying Agent Carter so far.

Feels really nostalgic with all that Bondesque stuff.

 

I really enjoyed Penny Dreadful.

One of the most common things people critique is that it hasn't really gone anywhere within the first season and to an extent that's certainly true, but I really loved the world and atmosphere they created. A mishmash of several contemporary fantasy stories that take place in Victorian London. Eva Green is utterly captivating and dominates every scene that she's in and I am really glad that Josh Hartnett started taking roles again, he's incredibly underrated. On top of that we've got one of the best Bonds playing a major role as well.

 

The first episode was excellent, but I lost interest by episode 3 or so. Nothing happened and some of the subplots left me pretty cold.

 

Anyone here catch the History channel special Sons of Liberty? I've seen the first two parts (part 3 is tomorrow), and like the Hatfield & McCoy special, there's some creative liberty taken with some of the historical facts and it's dramatized up, but it's quite an entertaining watch.

 

Is anyone watching Black Sails?

I've found it a rather enjoyable respite from the incessant drama of the CW. There are lots of greedy and self-interested individuals running around (as is only appropriate, considering the focus is on pirates), yet most are understandable or even sympathetic to a degree. If the show excels at one thing, it's at making 'bad' people compelling to watch; Silver's easy charisma coupled with his unrepentant cowardice and Flint's enigmatic resolve are equally interesting, and every so often someone'll throw out a line that's truly poignant and memorable. The lack of a central protagonist also ablates the traditional plot armor to a degree, resulting in some surprising deaths. Perhaps the story is more predictable if you've read Treasure Island, but I'm happily watching in ignorance. Black Sails does not entirely escape the twin pitfalls of relationship drama and gratuitous sex, but... Hannah New.

Also, can someone fix the title? It's surprisingly irksome.

 

It's not predictable at all really. I mean, you know where a few chars are headed a decade or two down the line, but Treasure Island doesn't really do their backstories.

Also... thread.

 

Fuck, I even searched for one beforehand.

 

So they made a TV show from The Casual Vacancy. First episode is on iPlayer .

I watched it and it seemed fine. Really not my type of TV, so perhaps someone else can chime in.

 

I'm looking for movies like Zero Dark Thirty, The International, Green Zone, The Hurt Locker. Throw me some recs. I tried googling but it's better (and easier) to actually ask someone.

 

Syriana is of a similar feel to those movies though with fewer action beats. Also similar: The Kingdom is pretty good from what I remember.

 

Jarhead and Black Hawk Down are along similar lines to those films.

 

The Kingdom seems like such a dumb movie until that very last line at which point you're blown away.

 

I've seen Black Hawk Down and Jarhead, but not the other two. Will check them out. Thanks guys.

 

Sicario. Also check out Three Kings. It's a bit different but in a good way.

 

Anyone else watching Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. This guy is real successor of John Stewart. Do watch latest episode on Trump or Drumpf

 

Here's a youtube link for that Donald Trump bit. #MakeDonaldDrumfAgain

And I definitely agree about the "successor [to] John Stewart" bit. He's great. And the HBO/weekly format allows him to do a lot more research on individual topics. Last week's abortion issue and a prior episode's prison segment are examples of this.

 

I hate that guy. Can't stand him.

To me he's only the "current year" man.

 

I like John Oliver at the Daily Bugle, his podcast with Andy Zaltzman.

I think the problem is he's good at being the straight man, but in the role he's currently trying to play he's not nearly as funny. Not to mention he's got a tendency to let jokes go on too long or take them past the point of being funny.