looking for HBO recommendations

[rutabaga]

Do you watch Insecure?
It is really funny, imho.
Younger women comedy imho.
I enjoy it.

Thanks for the reminder to add Insecure to the list. My friend recommended it a while ago but that was back when I was too busy commuting to work and juggling cooking/cleaning/errand running

Relatedly, if you're an Issa Rae fan, check out A Black Lady Sketch Show.

 

[aerinha]

So hard to recommend HBO stuff because most fall apart at the end IMHO. Here are my recs:

Sex and the City was good and I liked the ending though the final 2 seasons aren’t its best.

The Leftovers. It’s a little odd, but had an ending I can’t gripe about and answered most of the questions it raised.

Boardwalk Empire was very good and very underrated, but it fell victim to a weird time jump for its final season and a lot of the main cast weren’t used. Still, if you like the 1920s and crime stuff, it is worth a watch.

Veep tends to be a show I watch on planes and find funny but then never watch at home.

Euphoria is good but there is only one season.

Westworld season one I really enjoyed. Season 2 was rather slow. Season 3 is in progress and good so far.

Avoid GoT. The final season and end were so not worth the time fans put in to watching it over the years.

 

[sdkitty]

So hard to recommend HBO stuff because most fall apart at the end IMHO. Here are my recs:

Sex and the City was good and I liked the ending though the final 2 seasons aren’t its best.

The Leftovers. It’s a little odd, but had an ending I can’t gripe about and answered most of the questions it raised.

Boardwalk Empire was very good and very underrated, but it fell victim to a weird time jump for its final season and a lot of the main cast weren’t used. Still, if you like the 1920s and crime stuff, it is worth a watch.

Veep tends to be a show I watch on planes and find funny but then never watch at home.

Euphoria is good but there is only one season.

Westworld season one I really enjoyed. Season 2 was rather slow. Season 3 is in progress and good so far.

Avoid GoT. The final season and end were so not worth the time fans put in to watching it over the years.

funny, GOT doesn't appeal to me - not my genre. But if so many people were enjoying it for years, then can the ending spoil all of of that?

 

[rutabaga]

funny, GOT doesn't appeal to me - not my genre. But if so many people were enjoying it for years, then can the ending spoil all of of that?

I started watching the last season plus the final two episodes from the prior season because my husband was so into it, but I was underwhelmed. Like.. another zombie show? But with dragons and furs?

 

[sdkitty]

I started watching the last season plus the final two episodes from the prior season because my husband was so into it, but I was underwhelmed. Like.. another zombie show? But with dragons and furs?

I watched the walking dead for a while and lost interest. yet it has been very popular so what do I know?

 

[ChanelCanuck]

watched the documentary about scientology - Going Clear - last night. Although most of the info isn't new, it was laid out in such a way that it was very informative. Very disturbing. There was more footage of Tom Cruise at their big Nazi type events than I've seen before. I already had a not-so-good opinion of him but now I'm really over him.

Basically they said the organization has used their very cheap (40-cents-per-hour) labor to do lot of stuff for Cruise. Build vehicles, do improvements on his home, etc. And he is very much aware of the cheap labor involved.
John Travolta strikes me as a sad hostage of the org. He knows what goes on but they have too much dirt on him for him to speak out.

Omigod, Going Clear scared the crap out of me. On YouTube, there are videos of the "Squirrel Busters" (members of Sea Org) going to people's (ex-members') homes to intimidate and threaten them. If you liked Going Clear, I would highly, highly recommend you track down Leah Remini: Scientology and Its Aftermath. Leah used to be a member for years and now on this show (3 seasons), she interviews former members, etc., about the abuse they dealt with while in Scientology and the threats after they left. It's the perfect companion piece to Going Clear.

 

[ChanelCanuck]

I watched the walking dead for a while and lost interest. yet it has been very popular so what do I know?

I fell off around the time Negan got introduced (season 6?) but apparently this season has gone back up in terms of quality of writing, character development, etc. etc.

There's just too much good TV out right now to have to settle for sitting through mediocre seasons, in my opinion. (Maybe I'll be singing a different tune if this quarantine goes into the fall!)

 

[sdkitty]

Omigod, Going Clear scared the crap out of me. On YouTube, there are videos of the "Squirrel Busters" (members of Sea Org) going to people's (ex-members') homes to intimidate and threaten them. If you liked Going Clear, I would highly, highly recommend you track down Leah Remini: Scientology and Its Aftermath. Leah used to be a member for years and now on this show (3 seasons), she interviews former members, etc., about the abuse they dealt with while in Scientology and the threats after they left. It's the perfect companion piece to Going Clear.

yes, I've seen parts of Leah's show....I thought of her while watching Going Clear. I guess it was made prior to her show.
I watch Chicago PD and had heard jason beghe was a scientologist. didn't know he had left the cult. was interesting to hear what he had to say.
Miscaivage is a monster and Cruise having a close relationship with him says a lot about Cruise.

 

[aerinha]

funny, GOT doesn't appeal to me - not my genre. But if so many people were enjoying it for years, then can the ending spoil all of of that?

i can only speak for myself, but yes, the end did spoil all that for me. Trying to think of a way to put this that isn’t a spoiler...not a single storyline paid off, characters did about faces with no real build up, and the “winner,” wasn’t on anyone’s most wanted to rule list.

I don’t know your genre, so picking an example is hard, but imagine sitting through 3 hours of Titanic and, with everything the same up until the “car sex” scene, suddenly Jack is miffed the rich folks have it better and don’t like him so he busts into the wheel house to deliberately drive the ship into the iceberg saying he and Rose can fake their deaths and live together, Jack then jumps into a lifeboat, Rose jumps in with him and shoots him dead. As punishment she is sentenced to live the normal life she actually craves, her jerky ex fiancee Cal dies a rich old man in the arms of his loving wife and her side character no on really enjoys watching mother winds up with the big blue diamond. How are we feeling about the previous hours spent watching that movie?

 

[sdkitty]

i can only speak for myself, but yes, the end did spoil all that for me. Trying to think of a way to put this that isn’t a spoiler...not a single storyline paid off, characters did about faces with no real build up, and the “winner,” wasn’t on anyone’s most wanted to rule list.

I don’t know your genre, so picking an example is hard, but imagine sitting through 3 hours of Titanic and, with everything the same up until the “car sex” scene, suddenly Jack is miffed the rich folks have it better and don’t like him so he busts into the wheel house to deliberately drive the ship into the iceberg saying he and Rose can fake their deaths and live together, Jack then jumps into a lifeboat, Rose jumps in with him and shoots him dead. As punishment she is sentenced to live the normal life she actually craves, her jerky ex fiancee Cal dies a rich old man in the arms of his loving wife and her side character no on really enjoys watching mother winds up with the big blue diamond. How are we feeling about the previous hours spent watching that movie?

LOL
very creative

 

[ChanelCanuck]

i can only speak for myself, but yes, the end did spoil all that for me. Trying to think of a way to put this that isn’t a spoiler...not a single storyline paid off, characters did about faces with no real build up, and the “winner,” wasn’t on anyone’s most wanted to rule list.

I don’t know your genre, so picking an example is hard, but imagine sitting through 3 hours of Titanic and, with everything the same up until the “car sex” scene, suddenly Jack is miffed the rich folks have it better and don’t like him so he busts into the wheel house to deliberately drive the ship into the iceberg saying he and Rose can fake their deaths and live together, Jack then jumps into a lifeboat, Rose jumps in with him and shoots him dead. As punishment she is sentenced to live the normal life she actually craves, her jerky ex fiancee Cal dies a rich old man in the arms of his loving wife and her side character no on really enjoys watching mother winds up with the big blue diamond. How are we feeling about the previous hours spent watching that movie?

Agreed, and also, you should write fan fic.

Really though, I think the direction they wound up taking in season 8 would only have been "earned" if they had given the show another 1-2 seasons to work in that development and character disintegration ("redirection"??), otherwise it's like it came completely out of no where. Massive jumps and uncharacteristically bad decisions in a matter of minutes!

 

[aerinha]

Agreed, and also, you should write fan fic.

Really though, I think the direction they wound up taking in season 8 would only have been "earned" if they had given the show another 1-2 seasons to work in that development and character disintegration ("redirection"??), otherwise it's like it came completely out of no where. Massive jumps and uncharacteristically bad decisions in a matter of minutes!

Definitely with the right build up, it all would have made sense, but as it was....all I can say is that it is not paranoia if someone is plotting to poison you because they think you might be bad, but really it’s that they can’t bully you and someone with a penis that he can bully appeared. Ugh!

 

[limom]

yes, I've seen parts of Leah's show....I thought of her while watching Going Clear. I guess it was made prior to her show.
I watch Chicago PD and had heard jason beghe was a scientologist. didn't know he had left the cult. was interesting to hear what he had to say.
Miscaivage is a monster and Cruise having a close relationship with him says a lot about Cruise.

A great movie about Scientology is the Master with Joachim Phoenix.
They scare the crap out of me.. living in SD surely you had encounter with them in La Jolla, no?
They tried to recruit my husband and then met me
I guess it pays off to be a bit eccentric at times.

 

[sdkitty]

A great movie about Scientology is the Master with Joachim Phoenix.
They scare the crap out of me.. living in SD surely you had encounter with them in La Jolla, no?
They tried to recruit my husband and then met me
I guess it pays off to be a bit eccentric at times.

no, I don't recall encountering them....there was another cult that used to hang out at the airport

 

[sdkitty]

Excited to hear your thoughts after the season finale!

it seems like maybe he got away with murder three times (or more)....checking the Internet, he is now awaiting trial on the LA case. But he's in poor heath and with the corona virus delaying the case, he may die before he goes to trial. My take - money does buy "justice" - sadly.