Netflix - What gems have you found?

[SWoll]

Dr Doofenshmirtz said:

Another vote for After Life - absolutely brilliant TV. We binged the whole lot in one go as it was so captivating.

Thesprucegoose said:

I thought afterlife was frothy nonsense. The acting was good but hard-hitting storylines were extremely weak with idealised characters straight from Mrs brown does aids. Forgettable claptrap.

I fall somewhere between the 2. Really enjoyed it in places but did overdo the sentinmentality. Decent, but no Derek.

ben5575 said:

P-Jay said:

ashleyman said:

Triple Frontier should be out today. Looks decent!

https://www.netflix.com/gb/title/80192187

I watched the first 10 mins a lunchtime today to get a taste for it.

Fair warning the first 3-4 mins are a total cringefest where they turn the american fk yeah machismo up to 12.

It's only a slight spoiler

A 'badass' tactical AF, Sealalike stands before a class of less badass normal Army types and tells them how a year ago he was choking someone to death in a supermarket because he hadn't moved his 'Cart' when he asked him to. He talks about how he's so badass he can turn off every emotion to achieve his mission, but inflicting "extreme" violence upon his fellow man has made physiological and psychological changes to him. I expected this to become a cautionary tale of PTSD, but no, he remains stony faced and tell them "that's the price you pay, to be a Warrior" and then Metallica starts to play

It does improve to standard Tactical AF Porn shortly afterwards.

It should be fun.

I hate to break it to you....

First half is good in a 'Tactical AF Porn' kind of way though. Good to see or rather hear Pedro Pascal again - as soon as you hear his voice you know who it is. Sadly he also appears to share Affleck's penchant for pies...

7.7 on imdb, I'd go with a slightly below par 6.8 if you can stomach the cheese.

Yep, started Ok and then turned into a predictable snore-fest we've all seen 100 times before. Looked nice in Dolby Vision though.

[Butter Face]

Watching Triple Frontier now, halfway in and I assume it’s going to start really kicking off soon. It’s been quite enjoyable so far.

[ashleyman]

Just about to sit down and watch it myself. Looking forward to it even if it is cringe.

[anonymous-user]

i watched triple, some moments it lacked atmosphere, felt like a movie made for tv. 6.5 / 10

[Smiljan]

Just watched it, not Netflix's finest effort but it passed a couple of hours.

Don't expect I'll watch it again though.

[griffin dai]

Just watched Triple Frontier

Affleck must have volunteered to get shot in the head fking awful!

[Tiggsy]

After Life. As a fan of early Gervais but not Derek so much I wanted to like this. Fell asleep after 3 episodes so maybe it picks up??? Felt like being spoon fed the emotions he’s trying to illicit. Just one contrived set piece after another where he gets to be rude to people.

Not to mention the very out of place and nonsensical therapy bloke (who that character would never see, and if he did, wouldn’t act like that).

Wasn’t surprised when the obligatory “atheist” stand up material made its way in (like a bulldozer) and his relationship with his wife seemed liked she’d married a 14 year old YouTuber. Do 50 year old men prank their wives like that?

Was just hoping his boss/brother in law would tell him to man up or get the sack.

And some of the writing was a little off. An example (there where many) was having a care worker (who has no time for a partner) compare him to a twitter troll .... she has time to tweet? Feels like he has some social commentary he wants to make and doesn’t think too much about who he’ll get to say it. Is the druggie going to trip off about the left’s surpression of anyone in a MAGA cap?

Will watch some 11oclock reruns later to cheer myself back up

Edited by Tiggsy on Thursday 14th March 08:02

[chris4652009]

griffin dai said:

Just watched Triple Frontier

Affleck must have volunteered to get shot in the head fking awful!

Oh balls. I’ll leave it then.

[chrispmartha]

Mark Benson said:

funinhounslow said:

I have to say I am surprised at the positive reviews of After Life. I am 4 episodes in and find it quite disappointing.

To me it is just another rehash of material that has been around since the Xfm days (fat people, table manners, atheism) delivered by a string of one dimensional characters

It even fails basic credibility - or is it explained later how a vicar and local newspaper reporter can live in such a house? The office they work in looks rather grand for a failing local rag that uses a heroin addict to deliver the paper. And why is a professional newspaper photographer wandering round with a point and shoot camera?

The Office - and to a lesser extent Extras - were beautifully observed with some wonderful characters (Finchy, Keith). This seems second rate in comparison...

This really.
I can suspend disbelief if the programme is well written and acted (Sex Education for example) but this wasn't and we found this completely disappointing.
Same old material, same old characters and Gervais is still Gervais, just without the sly look to camera.
Managed 3 episodes to see if it improved but just didn't get on with it at all.

I've not watched After Life so won't comment on that but Gervais IMO has done nothing of worth since Extras, well I say nothing of worth Derek was the most fascinating comedy thing I've seen in a long time, it was ham fisted, extremely badly paced, badly written, badly acted (on Gervaises part) and all seemed to be based on the fact RG got caught out using the word '' and wanted to show he was a nice guy really, it was truly truly awful. There's a rule in decent writing especially in comedy - Show, don't tell, RG doesn't seem to be able to manage this, how many times did we have talking heads reiterating how 'kind' Derek was when what he was actually showing us was quite the opposite. He tried to tell us that the stars of the show were the old people but they seemed to be there solely for him to base some cheap gags at.

His older stand up is OK but I think he is desperate for people to think he is some kind of 'Auter' but when it boils down to it his comedy just relies on cheap stereotyping gags designed to 'shock'.

The Office and Extras to some extent were excellent but anything after that has been terrible, I think he benefits from working with someone like Merchant who can offer something to the writing.

All IMHO of course but I think RG is vastly overrated and living off the back of previous work, I'm sure he or indeed his fans would point to his success and bank account (as he often does) but money and success is not always a sign of quality.

As you can tell I'm not a fan, there are far better comedies out there that explore the human condition with subtlety and good writing.

Oh and the less said about the David Brent film the better.

[chrispmartha]

Tiggsy said:

Felt like being spoon fed the emotions he’s trying to illicit. Just one contrived set piece after another where he gets to be rude to people. ]

That is RG's comedy in a nutshell.

[BrabusMog]

It is starting to sound like I'm one of the only people on PH that liked Derek! I thought The Office was ok, Extras was hilarious (but I think it was the guest stars that made the show, such as Kate Winslet and her take on how to win an Oscar, Gervais' character was a prick and really unlikable) and After Life was again smashing. I guess it shows that humour, like most things in life, is subjective and you can never please everyone.

[chrispmartha]

BrabusMog said:

It is starting to sound like I'm one of the only people on PH that liked Derek! I thought The Office was ok, Extras was hilarious (but I think it was the guest stars that made the show, such as Kate Winslet and her take on how to win an Oscar, Gervais' character was a prick and really unlikable) and After Life was again smashing. I guess it shows that humour, like most things in life, is subjective and you can never please everyone.

Obviously its your opinion and subjective so its your right to enjoy a TV programme but I'd be interested to know why you liked Derek? it might have been OK without all the 'kindness is magic' 'Derek is such a nice guy' rhetoric which was rammed down the viewers throat constantly, the whole thing was utterly bizarre I couldn't get past that to see any actual comedy. I actually thought it was pretty patronising swell especially to care home workers and the elderly.

[ashleyman]

Well, Triple Frontier was ok. Not anything special but it passed some time. Wouldn't watch it again.

[BrabusMog]

chrispmartha said:

BrabusMog said:

It is starting to sound like I'm one of the only people on PH that liked Derek! I thought The Office was ok, Extras was hilarious (but I think it was the guest stars that made the show, such as Kate Winslet and her take on how to win an Oscar, Gervais' character was a prick and really unlikable) and After Life was again smashing. I guess it shows that humour, like most things in life, is subjective and you can never please everyone.

Obviously its your opinion and subjective so its your right to enjoy a TV programme but I'd be interested to know why you liked Derek? it might have been OK without all the 'kindness is magic' 'Derek is such a nice guy' rhetoric which was rammed down the viewers throat constantly, the whole thing was utterly bizarre I couldn't get past that to see any actual comedy. I actually thought it was pretty patronising swell especially to care home workers and the elderly.

I liked all the characters, I found it hilarious in places, heart warming in others and down right sad at times. I never felt the "Derek is such a nice guy" rhetoric rammed down my throat personally. Also, my missus worked in a care home when she was younger and doing her medical training, and she found it very relatable and I always find myself enjoying a show a bit more when she is clearly loving it - she recently discovered Trailer Park Boys and I am getting to rewatch it with her and always laugh more when she is laughing! Not sure if that makes much sense.

[designforlife]

Watched Triple Frontier lastnight...

Good soundtrack, but I think Isaacs was miss-cast...and it's difficult to empathise with characters who make some increasingly bad decisions in various situations, not what you would expect from decorated and highly trained ex-military (to my mind at least).

The ending also really didn't sit too well with me.

Watchable, but has a few flaws.

[Speckle]

Triple Frontier was alright but, as has been said, some of the decisions made by key characters seemed to be at odds with their supposed elite military pasts.

Overall, it was an enjoyable way to pass a couple of hours. Pacing wasn't quite what I would expect but, it wasn't awful - I'd probably give it a 5.5/10, maybe a 6.

I also watched Dirty John at the weekend - that was very good binge-able TV! Really enjoyed it and did not see the final episode coming at all! Easily 8/10

[chrispmartha]

BrabusMog said:

chrispmartha said:

BrabusMog said:

It is starting to sound like I'm one of the only people on PH that liked Derek! I thought The Office was ok, Extras was hilarious (but I think it was the guest stars that made the show, such as Kate Winslet and her take on how to win an Oscar, Gervais' character was a prick and really unlikable) and After Life was again smashing. I guess it shows that humour, like most things in life, is subjective and you can never please everyone.

Obviously its your opinion and subjective so its your right to enjoy a TV programme but I'd be interested to know why you liked Derek? it might have been OK without all the 'kindness is magic' 'Derek is such a nice guy' rhetoric which was rammed down the viewers throat constantly, the whole thing was utterly bizarre I couldn't get past that to see any actual comedy. I actually thought it was pretty patronising swell especially to care home workers and the elderly.

I liked all the characters, I found it hilarious in places, heart warming in others and down right sad at times. I never felt the "Derek is such a nice guy" rhetoric rammed down my throat personally. Also, my missus worked in a care home when she was younger and doing her medical training, and she found it very relatable and I always find myself enjoying a show a bit more when she is clearly loving it - she recently discovered Trailer Park Boys and I am getting to rewatch it with her and always laugh more when she is laughing! Not sure if that makes much sense.

it does make sense yes, but I'd question how it's relatable to a care home , supposedly run by the nicest care worker ever lets an alcoholic hang around perving at the old people and even trying to get in bed with them at points, plus said care worker steals from a deceased elderly person and seemingly cares more about nipping off to try get pregnant, plus the main character putting residents and workers in headlocks and generally been an arse, as I say it may have had some merit as a gross out comedy but the pretence it was some kind of heartwarming look into the human condition really grated on me, I will say I do tend to over analyse comedies too much!

[BrabusMog]

chrispmartha said:

BrabusMog said:

chrispmartha said:

BrabusMog said:

It is starting to sound like I'm one of the only people on PH that liked Derek! I thought The Office was ok, Extras was hilarious (but I think it was the guest stars that made the show, such as Kate Winslet and her take on how to win an Oscar, Gervais' character was a prick and really unlikable) and After Life was again smashing. I guess it shows that humour, like most things in life, is subjective and you can never please everyone.

Obviously its your opinion and subjective so its your right to enjoy a TV programme but I'd be interested to know why you liked Derek? it might have been OK without all the 'kindness is magic' 'Derek is such a nice guy' rhetoric which was rammed down the viewers throat constantly, the whole thing was utterly bizarre I couldn't get past that to see any actual comedy. I actually thought it was pretty patronising swell especially to care home workers and the elderly.

I liked all the characters, I found it hilarious in places, heart warming in others and down right sad at times. I never felt the "Derek is such a nice guy" rhetoric rammed down my throat personally. Also, my missus worked in a care home when she was younger and doing her medical training, and she found it very relatable and I always find myself enjoying a show a bit more when she is clearly loving it - she recently discovered Trailer Park Boys and I am getting to rewatch it with her and always laugh more when she is laughing! Not sure if that makes much sense.

it does make sense yes, but I'd question how it's relatable to a care home , supposedly run by the nicest care worker ever lets an alcoholic hang around perving at the old people and even trying to get in bed with them at points, plus said care worker steals from a deceased elderly person and seemingly cares more about nipping off to try get pregnant, plus the main character putting residents and workers in headlocks and generally been an arse, as I say it may have had some merit as a gross out comedy but the pretence it was some kind of heartwarming look into the human condition really grated on me, I will say I do tend to over analyse comedies too much!

I think you do

The care workers, including the janitor, all seem to genuinely care for the residents.

They also show things that do happen (according to my missus), such as kids treating their parents like st and just being interested in money and care home staff actually sticking up for the residents. It's not an out and out comedy show, but still a comedy, so they include exaggerated characters, but I found it a nice balance of humour and heart warming.

[anonymous-user]

Derek would have just be as good without him playing it as a spectrum person and just a normal humble man. The problem with RG, he takes the rip out of broad comedy but he always seem to fall into similar broad characters.

[chrispmartha]

BrabusMog said:

chrispmartha said:

BrabusMog said:

chrispmartha said:

BrabusMog said:

It is starting to sound like I'm one of the only people on PH that liked Derek! I thought The Office was ok, Extras was hilarious (but I think it was the guest stars that made the show, such as Kate Winslet and her take on how to win an Oscar, Gervais' character was a prick and really unlikable) and After Life was again smashing. I guess it shows that humour, like most things in life, is subjective and you can never please everyone.

Obviously its your opinion and subjective so its your right to enjoy a TV programme but I'd be interested to know why you liked Derek? it might have been OK without all the 'kindness is magic' 'Derek is such a nice guy' rhetoric which was rammed down the viewers throat constantly, the whole thing was utterly bizarre I couldn't get past that to see any actual comedy. I actually thought it was pretty patronising swell especially to care home workers and the elderly.

I liked all the characters, I found it hilarious in places, heart warming in others and down right sad at times. I never felt the "Derek is such a nice guy" rhetoric rammed down my throat personally. Also, my missus worked in a care home when she was younger and doing her medical training, and she found it very relatable and I always find myself enjoying a show a bit more when she is clearly loving it - she recently discovered Trailer Park Boys and I am getting to rewatch it with her and always laugh more when she is laughing! Not sure if that makes much sense.

it does make sense yes, but I'd question how it's relatable to a care home , supposedly run by the nicest care worker ever lets an alcoholic hang around perving at the old people and even trying to get in bed with them at points, plus said care worker steals from a deceased elderly person and seemingly cares more about nipping off to try get pregnant, plus the main character putting residents and workers in headlocks and generally been an arse, as I say it may have had some merit as a gross out comedy but the pretence it was some kind of heartwarming look into the human condition really grated on me, I will say I do tend to over analyse comedies too much!

I think you do

The care workers, including the janitor, all seem to genuinely care for the residents.

They also show things that do happen (according to my missus), such as kids treating their parents like st and just being interested in money and care home staff actually sticking up for the residents. It's not an out and out comedy show, but still a comedy, so they include exaggerated characters, but I found it a nice balance of humour and heart warming.

Fair enough, I completely disagree, but that's what makes the world interesting. Funnily enough I think Karl Pilkington's character was about the only plausible one, and he was binned off (in another piece of dreadful writing) On Karl Pilkington, I thought his series Sick of It was actually far far better than anything RG has done since Extras