Hap and Leonard is a Sundance Channel program. The pulp noir features James Purefoy (The Following) and Michael K. Williams (The Wire). Set in the late ’80’s, the two are asked to join a treasure hunt for money lost in a decades old bank robbery. Christina Hendricks (Mad Men), Haps ex-wife, complicates things with the crew due to her moral view of the world and her past relationship with Hap (and Leonard). There are many twists and turns including a second pair of treasure hunters that cause a tremendous amount of chaos for both the general public and the main characters.
Hap and Leonard was a great binge (season 1 on Netflix). Although the story and characters are dead serious, there are comedic elements that, although dark, make the program fun to watch. Production value is fair to high with many elements of the 80’s are highlighted (maybe to much, Corningware Percolator).
Green Wing is a British comedy series starring Tamsin Greig (Black Books). The show is set in a hospital and focuses on a handful of doctors and the human recourses department. Even though the series is set in a hospital the story is more soap opera than about doctoring. The song Love Stinks by the J. Geiles Band, “you love her, she loves him and he loves somebody else…”.
The main characters range from normal, delusional and the surreal. Each scene is segued by non sequiturs (nonsense). The style of the show could be compared to Monty Python (style only, not content). Green Wing did have a couple of cameo scenes with John Oliver and Stephen Merchant in the first season. There are two seasons and a special out there but only the first season is on Netflix at this time.
I enjoy British comedy and Green Wing did nothing to stop that. I am a big fan of non sequitur humor. The show is over ten years old so some of the clothing and haircuts are dated, but funny is funny.
“The wars were so long ago nobody even remembers. Darkness and fear ruled until the time of the barons, seven men and women who forged order out of chaos. People flocked to them for protection. That protection became servitude. They banished guns and trained armies of lethal fighters they called Clippers. This world is built on blood. Nobody is innocent here. Welcome to the Badlands.” Opening narration for Into the Badlands.
An AMC show, Into the Badlands, is set in a feudal world where a great war happened and the resolution was to break the lands up into different sectors ruled by a warlord.
If you can think of a mash up elements of samurai, steampunk, dystopia, southern plantation you get Into the Badlands. The program comes with a high production value where the stunts, costumes and costumes all work together to tell a decent story.
The action in Badlands is equal to any movie of a similar production value and as good, or better, than anything on television (at least top 5). I have enjoyed the show and look forward to the second season.
Penny Dreadful is a “neo victorian” horror drama staring Josh Hartnett, Eva Green and Pierce Brosnan (James freaking Bond). the term “penny dreadful” refers to the publication of stories of salacious and horrific content.
In this program, which aired three seasons on Showtime, the horrific content is about almost every character from victorian age horror books. The lineup includes: witches, werewolves, Dracula, Dorian Grey, Frankenstein, Frankensteins monster, Bride of Frankenstein, Van Helsing and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (among others).
Pierce Brosnan’s character wants to keep his family safe. His daughter , Mina, was taken a while back. With his natural inclination towards travel and adventure along with his missing daughter, Sir Malcolm Murray was introduced to otherworldly creatures and the occult. Murray enlists the help of Josh Hartnett an American sharpshooter.
There are not a lot of laughs to be had. Drama, thrills and suspense are what you find (if you dare). The acting is good and the production value is high.
Z Nation, a SyFy original series, is a post zombie apocalypse type show. This is not a poor mans The Walking Dead (also on Netflix). Z Nation comes to you from the same producers of all of the schlocky movies on SyFy, The Asylum.
Z Nation follows a group of survivors along with who could be the antidote for the zombie virus. They go on a road trip to find someone at the Centers for Disease Control.
Z seems to be a super low budget program. Everyone overacts, the effects are not special but it all seems to work. The show does not take itself too serious and often is humorous either on purpose or by mistake.
The Asylum movies are fun to live tweet. Ripping one liners about Sasquatch or a dinoshark with friends is fun.
Sean
I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore is a continuation of excellence in original content by Netflix.
This program stars Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood. The plot is thin with the main focus on the characters. To say that the characters are quirky would be an understatement. One notices that everyone in this word is a narcissist, another has a rat tail and a throwing star belt buckle.
I did enjoy the movie. I am pleased that there is an outlet for this type of story telling.
The Fall is a drama/crime thriller set in Ireland. The detective superintendent, Gillian Anderson, is aiding in the the investigation of a serial murderer, Jamie Dornan. Instead of the “cat and mouse” type of relationship something more intimate develops over three seasons.
All of the characters have interesting qualities that work well interacting with each other and for story telling purposes. There are flaws with the two main characters. One craves intamacy but lacks commitment and the other likes to strangle woman.
The Fall is a slow burn. The seasons are short so the time vs. the enjoyment payoff is a balanced ratio. The Fall is worth the watch.
My last goal for this site was to take a challenge. The challenge was to write about a different program on Netflix for each day of the year (#Netflix365). I was successful for 251 days posing #Netflix365.
Many reasons contributed to falling off of my daily post. Life gets in the way of even the smallest tasks.
Writing a blog, regardless of the subject, is meant to be read by more than just the writer, but getting eyes on can be difficult, and should not be more important than the content. There was a point that I was getting 1000 views per day. My problem was that the links, video and comments did not reflect this.
I owe 104 posts. This is not War and Peace. This is me watching TV. I have enjoyed watching and writing about TV and wish to continue. I will be focusing on content rather than the number of views.
If you do enjoy a post please leave a comment. If you hate a post please leave a comment. Thank you for reading and on to #Netflix365 number 252 “The Flash”.
There are number of super hero shows on television today. I watch them all. I enjoy comic books and I prefer to collect single issues (Wednesday is the best day of the week). Others prefer to get either the hard cover or trade paperback collection. This could mean that I would prefer to watch the latest super hero defeat villains as they are aired. I do not. Binge watching is the greatest thing ever and Netflix indulges me with plenty to binge.
Barry Allen (Grant Gustin) is The Flash. There are at this point two seasons of the show on Netflix. the Flash has great action and fair dialogue. I enjoy watching, the stories have been thrilling and fun. For the most part the dialogue is decent. The cross over episodes with Arrow and Super Girl (also Legends of Tommorow) are better than most crossovers in the past (Superman Meets the Brady’s).
If I had one criticism it is that Barry Allen is very dramatic. The Flash needs to be more fun and sarcastic.
It can go without saying that the manure business is not glamorous. The Rose Fertilizer plant had found success but when the owner dies and the estranged daughter is left with the company everything is up in the air. The salesmen lead by Billy Bob Thornton wants to just push over the daughter. Tea Leone, but she feels the need to stay involved. Enter: the competition. A new company is taking clients that once bought from the company. The story continues with the old school traveling salesmen/family business against the new scientific modern company. Can the determination of the daughter and the traditional salesmen win over the modern competitor, or is the stink of business to much to bare?
This independent film is set in farmland Kansas. There are some unique camera and production values. The idea of a manure company working with the efficiency of an army is interesting (airdrops included). The story is easy to follow, there is a chemistry with Tea Leone and Thornton. The acting is decent. I am positive this is the number one drama about manure available on Netflix instant streaming.
In 1975 C.W. McCall wrote a catchy tune: “Convoy”. The Convoy song was so great they turned it into a movie directed by Sam Peckinpah in 1978. At the time CB radios and 16 Wheelers were awesome. Convoy tells the story of a corrupt sheriff who is basically holding a trucker hostage, all the trucker wants is to get home to his pregnant wife. The movie is not blatantly racist but the trucker is black. It is up to “Rubber Duckie”, “Pig Pen”, and the rest of the crew to save “Spider Mike” from the “Smokey”. The cast is typical for ’70’s fare, Kris Kristofferson, Ernest Borgnine and Ali McGraw. Watch the truckers “stick it to the man” in Convoy!
CW McCall Convoy (1975)
[On the CB]
Ah, breaker one-nine, this here’s the Rubber Duck. You gotta copy on me, Big Ben, c’mon? Ah, yeah, 10-4, Big Ben, for sure, for sure. By golly, it’s clean clear to Flag Town, c’mon. Yeah, that’s a big 10-4 there, Big Ben, yeah, we definitely got the front door, good buddy. Mercy sakes alive, looks like we got us a convoy…
Was the dark of the moon on the sixth of June
In a Kenworth pullin’ logs
Cab over Pete with a reefer on
And a Jimmy haulin’ hogs
We is headin’ for bear on I-one-oh
‘Bout a mile outta Shaky Town
I says, “Big Ben, this here’s Rubber Duck.
And I’m about to put the hammer down.”
[Chorus]
‘Cause we got a little ol’ convoy
Rockin’ through the night.
Yeah, we got a little ol’ convoy,
Ain’t she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain’t nothin’ gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin’ convoy
‘Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy!
[On the CB]
Ah, breaker, Big Ben, this here’s the Duck. And, you wanna back off them hogs? Yeah, 10-4, ’bout five mile or so. Ten, roger. Them hogs is gettin’ in-tense up here.
By the time we got into Tulsa Town,
We had eighty-five trucks in all.
But they’s a roadblock up on the cloverleaf,
And them bears was wall-to-wall.
Yeah, them smokies is thick as bugs on a bumper;
They even had a bear in the air!
I says, “Callin’ all trucks, this here’s the Duck.
“We about to go a-huntin’ bear.”
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsfreak.com/c/cw+mccall/convoy_20026575.html ]
[Chorus]
‘Cause we got a great big convoy
Rockin’ through the night.
Yeah, we got a great big convoy,
Ain’t she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain’t nothin’ gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin’ convoy
‘Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy!
[On the CB]
Ah, you wanna give me a 10-9 on that, Big Ben? Negatory, Big Ben; you’re still too close. Yeah, them hogs is startin’ to close up my sinuses. Mercy sakes, you better back off another ten.
Well, we rolled up Interstate 44
Like a rocket sled on rails.
We tore up all of our swindle sheets,
And left ’em settin’ on the scales.
By the time we hit that Shy-town,
Them bears was a-gettin’ smart:
They’d brought up some reinforcements
From the Illinois National Guard.
There’s armored cars, and tanks, and jeeps,
And rigs of ev’ry size.
Yeah, them chicken coops was full’a bears
And choppers filled the skies.
Well, we shot the line and we went for broke
With a thousand screamin’ trucks
An’ eleven long-haired Friends a’ Jesus
In a chartreuse micro-bus.
[On the CB]
Ah, Rubber Duck to Sodbuster, come over. Yeah, 10-4, Sodbuster? Lissen, you wanna put that micro-bus in behind that suicide jockey? Yeah, he’s haulin’ dynamite, and he needs all the help he can get.
Well, we laid a strip for the Jersey shore
And prepared to cross the line
I could see the bridge was lined with bears
But I didn’t have a dog-goned dime.
I says, “Big Ben, this here’s the Rubber Duck.
We just ain’t a-gonna pay no toll.”
So we crashed the gate doing ninety-eight
I says “Let them truckers roll, 10-4.”
[Chorus]
‘Cause we got a mighty convoy
Rockin’ through the night.
Yeah, we got a mighty convoy,
Ain’t she a beautiful sight?
Come on and join our convoy
Ain’t nothin’ gonna get in our way.
We gonna roll this truckin’ convoy
‘Cross the U-S-A.
Convoy! Ah, 10-4, Big Ben, what’s your twenty?
Convoy! OMAHA? Well, they oughta know what to do with them hogs out there for sure. Well, mercy
Convoy! sakes, good buddy, we gonna back on outta here, so keep the bugs off your glass and the bears off your…
Convoy! tail. We’ll catch you on the flip-flop. This here’s the Rubber Duck on the side.
Convoy! We gone. ‘Bye, ‘bye.
program fun to watch. Production value is fair to high with many elements of the 80’s are highlighted (maybe to much, Corningware Percolator).
SeanSpeak 