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Streaming or currently airing TV shows (AKA Netflix thread) (8 Viewers)

Finished off Department Q yesterday...

Very, very good...

I'm sure there will be a second season
Just finished it yesterday as well and really enjoyed it. I mean, the story is a bit ridiculous imo but they pulled it off well and it kept me interested throughout.
Story was absurd and it all had the classic but annoying detective show tropes and you're spot on that they somehow pulled it off. Perfect summary of the show.
 
USA started up a few weeks ago a tv series version of John Grisham's 90's novel The Rainmaker which I have enjoyed the first 3 episodes. I think the main kid is a mostly an unknown but he does a pretty good job. John Slattery from Mad Men plays a great lowlife corporate lawyer. Lana Parilla from Once Upon a Time is as beautiful as ever. The girlfriend's actress was bugging me where I had seen her before until it clicked that she was the "hot" high schooler in the recent Jumanji remakes.

Loved most of the Grisham novels and adaptations back in the '90's (The Firm, A Time to Kill, Pelican Brief, The Client, etc.) but was burned out by the time Rainmaker came around and never saw the Matt Damon film because of the burnout. I think it was the last big Grisham adaptation and it bombed at theaters as that trend had kind of run its course IIRC. I recall my brother who is a lawyer speaking pretty highly of the book at one point even if the movie flopped. I believe Peacock has it on streaming if anyone wants to catch up.
 
was burned out by the time Rainmaker came around and never saw the Matt Damon film because of the burnout.
I liked the Rainmaker and Runaway Jury the movies. I would say if you liked the other Grisham adaptations you will like Rainmaker. You should give the movie a chance.

I watched the first couple episodes of the Rainmaker series and it's entertaining. Pretty formulaic and what you expect but I like these types of shows.
 
was burned out by the time Rainmaker came around and never saw the Matt Damon film because of the burnout.
I liked the Rainmaker and Runaway Jury the movies. I would say if you liked the other Grisham adaptations you will like Rainmaker. You should give the movie a chance.

I watched the first couple episodes of the Rainmaker series and it's entertaining. Pretty formulaic and what you expect but I like these types of shows.
Yeah I thought the Damon "Rainmaker" version was good. It's also probably one of Grisham's more realistic law stories if that means anything.

For Grisham movies, I'd go with A Time to Kill as the absolute best while still being somewhat realistic. That said, the legal irony about A Time to Kill is that it champions a concept called "jury nullification." Jury nullification is the idea that while the State has proved the elements of the charged crime beyond a reasonable doubt (i.e. the Defendant is guilty under the law as written), a jury decided for presumably some higher moral basis to acquit. In most jurisdictions - including mine - attorneys are barred from arguing for this and the jury is literally instructed that they can't do this. Nonetheless, in a compelling story that is both well-written and well-acted, this concept seems not only permissible but "right." So, definitely worth the watch, just don't go around thinking that Carl Lee Hailey is innocent under the law (because he's not and he should have been convicted even though we can understand why he did what he did). Further, definitely don't go around committing crimes thinking you'll be acquitted if you had a good reason for committing said crimes that isn't a legal defense (e.g. while it would be fun to punch Nazis or kick Martin Skrilli in the shin, both acts would still be assault).

The Rainmaker comes in second for me because it's a bit more subtle, Damon is great as a young lawyer, and it's actually a pretty plausible story (down to the end where Damon explains in the voiceover that they'll probably never see the money).

I really liked Runaway Jury (both book and movie) from a pure entertainment perspective but it's a legal absurdity. Similarly, The Client and The Pelican Brief are entertaining movies but either grossly unrealistic or significantly flawed.
 
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I really liked Runaway Jury (both book and movie) from a pure entertainment perspective but it's a legal absurdity. Similarly, The Client and The Pelican Brief are entertaining movies but either grossly unrealistic or significantly flawed.
I agree on all your points. Grisham stories just make for good entertainment. I don't think there is a movie of his I didn't like. Some are better than others and it's not good to try and compare the movies to the books (The Firm is way off) but both were entertaining in their own rights.
 
I really liked Runaway Jury (both book and movie) from a pure entertainment perspective but it's a legal absurdity. Similarly, The Client and The Pelican Brief are entertaining movies but either grossly unrealistic or significantly flawed.
I agree on all your points. Grisham stories just make for good entertainment. I don't think there is a movie of his I didn't like. Some are better than others and it's not good to try and compare the movies to the books (The Firm is way off) but both were entertaining in their own rights.
Are you counting Christmas with the Cranks? :lmao:

For law movies, probably the only one I didn't care for was The Chamber - although there is still a big positive with this movie as I though Hackman was really good in it.

The Firm as a novel is much, much better than the movie. But, the movie is still entertaining enough to watch.
 
I tend to stay away from most Grisham-inspired films.



They have a high tendency to wrap up everything, every storyline, in a perfect bow. A Time to Kill was the ultimate example.

Life is ragged, mostly

The Firm is my exception for the Grisham avoidance

Kind of the wrong thread, but I needed to get that out...
 
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I really liked Runaway Jury (both book and movie) from a pure entertainment perspective but it's a legal absurdity. Similarly, The Client and The Pelican Brief are entertaining movies but either grossly unrealistic or significantly flawed.
I agree on all your points. Grisham stories just make for good entertainment. I don't think there is a movie of his I didn't like. Some are better than others and it's not good to try and compare the movies to the books (The Firm is way off) but both were entertaining in their own rights.
Are you counting Christmas with the Cranks? :lmao:

For law movies, probably the only one I didn't care for was The Chamber - although there is still a big positive with this movie as I though Hackman was really good in it.

The Firm as a novel is much, much better than the movie. But, the movie is still entertaining enough to watch.
For some reason, I don't hate this movie.
 

Happy Valley is terrific too, but unlike Broadchurch it's stuck behind "buy now" on Amazon.
Broadchurch is very solid.

I gave Broadchurch a strong write-up a few fellow fans concurred with. I went down the UK crime telly hole. I ranked 10 but I did this very fast in about an hour right before the deadline. Given more time I can think of 5 more I should have ranked. I ranked them as follows and I really liked Happy Valley.

11 Broadchurch
15 Peaky Blinders
27 Sherlock
31 Line of Duty
32 The Bridge
33 Top Boy
34 Top Boy Summerhouse
44 The Night Manager
45 Shetland
61 Happy Valley

i put Line of Duty in bold because I rewatched just a week ago. I should have ranked it much higher. It's Broadchurch tier to me. I believe it's won the most awards of any British cops/crime show. Six hard hitting seasons with no let down. If you're into cop shows, I highly recommend it. It has the intensity of Broadchurch, but set in London. It's about the Anti-Corruption Unit (think internal affairs). Good cops investigating bad cops. Each season unique. Some outstanding writing, very strong characters who will leave an impression. 4 seasons free on prime. 5 and 6 can be had with a free trial of Britbox (which I pay for) or Acorn.

Thanks for mentioning Broadchurch a while back. The wife and I went on to Broadchurch after liking Dept Q and have really been enjoying it. Finished season 1 on Prime and just started season 2 which fired up on Peacock so must have switched.
 
I'll be that guy... Again.

Alien: Earth is not good. All the characters are unlikable idiots. And there's building tension and then there's milking the story to the point of annoyance.

Harrumph.
:angry:
 
I'll be that guy... Again.

Alien: Earth is not good. All the characters are unlikable idiots. And there's building tension and then there's milking the story to the point of annoyance.

Harrumph.
:angry:
Yeah but that Eye is pretty, pretty good
I got a hundred of those things out of the wishing well at Perkins. They came in the little bubble things and when you tossed them against the wall they'd crawl down.
 
I'll be that guy... Again.

Alien: Earth is not good. All the characters are unlikable idiots. And there's building tension and then there's milking the story to the point of annoyance.

Harrumph.
:angry:
They've done a really good job of making nearly all the characters flawed, which I appreciate. I also appreciate that they are building some sympathy for the aliens into the plot.

Also, I'm a sucker for a good corporate-governed dystopia.
 
These last couple episodes of Alien Earth have been awesome. I'm loving the eyeball octopus creature. She's nightmare fuel.
Patiently waiting for The Eye to get into one of the Lost Boys and start laying waste to xenomorphs.
I wanna know what beef The Eye and Xenomorph have. That's gotta be a good backstory!
Eye seems smart, may have correctly decided that if xenomorph lives, all the humans it could take over will die.
 
These last couple episodes of Alien Earth have been awesome. I'm loving the eyeball octopus creature. She's nightmare fuel.
Patiently waiting for The Eye to get into one of the Lost Boys and start laying waste to xenomorphs.
I wanna know what beef The Eye and Xenomorph have. That's gotta be a good backstory!
Eye seems smart, may have correctly decided that if xenomorph lives, all the humans it could take over will die.
That's a good point that I did not consider. Man, there are so many ways this plotline could go and I'm on board for most of them!
 
Stranger Things new season comes out this year. I am rewatching from season 1 episode 1. That first season was so good. Just screams a Goonies feel to it. Like a Scooby Doo mystery with little kids. Winona Ryder nailed her performance. Solid watch.

Rewatching too right now. Forgot how good this was. The Duffer Brothers really nailed the 80s nostalgia and I can't wait to see what they do next.
 
no one has mentioned it yet so you guys either think it's really bad (and it does have a low IMDB score) or no one is watching it but I've been watching The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox on hulu. I'm likely bias since I sort of like these true crime stories and the case was just so interesting to me so I think it's neat to see it kinda play out on the silver screen.
 
The Traitors Ireland is starting season 1.

While they obviously speak English, you may prefer to have subtitles on for some wicked accents.
5 Episodes in

I like that someone figured out that the physical challenge beasts are getting taken out - must be 2 men Traitors - to be that confident without the strong guys.

All in 1 episode, the Traitors went from the smartest group with nothing tying them to anything to all 3 being the top vote getters for banishment.
One is not very bright (confuses murder turret conversations with regular daily talk), gets called on not having suspicions, and just is a talkative fella - too much talk. One thinks he's the smartest person in the game. And one that happens to be in the wrong place at the right time a lot.


The quiet Faithful sheepishly raises her hand. Respectfully among chaos...says quietly 'Can I share something?'
Calls out Traitor on Traitor for Eamon (who she's been sure of) vs Paudie (didn't think previously) commotion is with passion. And also mentions highly suspecting Katelyn. Noice

The 'smart one' goes home. First Traitor caught... celebration ensues.

Will they listen to her for the other 2?
Before they take her out?

And who will be recruited? Maybe not so dumb after all... the 'unknown' son.
 
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