Love Deadline
I am trying to get people interested in watching Ted Lasso with me or a number of other programs that have been mentioned above in this thread. But nobody has coincident TV watching times or interests available, and I have been putting on a show to help me through the tasks of dishwashing and cooking and such. So my chosen show for a while was called Love Deadline.
Approximately 10 singles divided by gender are attempting to mingle and pair up such that, on an unnaturally rapid basis, a woman will ask a man to marry her. This will occur because of the love deadline: randomly one of the men will be pulled aside and told he must leave the show within a few hours. At that point, If any woman decides she wants to marry him, she has to go ask him. By doing this she will also need to leave the show, even if the guy turns her down. Oh, and it's located in Japan, which the infamous "Love is blind" series on Netflix has already demonstrated is a very unusual place to set a love reality show. The people are not communicating about love in the way that others communicate about it in different global locations. Mostly that's because they're not communicating about it at all. Or they are... But with gestures so slight and subtle that those of us with more pedestrian, crude training have no idea what the f*** is going on.
I was not able to predict the strange dynamics that have developed on this show. The men are trying to win over the women, yet their techniques for winning are pretty much what you would call techniques for losing! How are these the techniques?! Why is any of this working, to the extent that it even is? What do any of these people see in each other and how did they discern it, when there is so little being said or explained? Why do they want to take a bath in the same bathtub all the time, even as they struggle to have a normal chitchat over lunch?! If I'm going to get in the bath with you, It's a guarantee that we've had some pretty good conversations up to that point. Pretty damn detailed conversations. We know a lot about each other before we are hopping in a bathtub. And I don't mean like a giant whirlpool of the sort they have at resorts - I mean like an indoor small bathtub. What are we doing in there together?! Is it just me or if we are taking a bath together are we ready for the full experience of sexuality? Or darn near? I would give it as a very plain advice: Don't get into the tub with a strange man unless you are ready for all that! And if you're not, you are going to need to explain all of the details and boundaries very clearly, because you're in the damn bathtub together. I want to be clear that this is not an argument about consent! Getting into a bathtub does not constitute consent. It's about the size and intimacy level of a bathtub: If you are naked in a bathtub of a small size you are touching parts together, inevitably! There's no place to go but together! I am not entangling my naked limbs with a stranger in a bathtub unless I have a damn good reason to do so! I'm prepared for a lot of unexpected twist and turns at that point. If I'm not happy chatting with you over breakfast then we won't be there!
Oh I don't know... The worst thing about this show is very spoilery so just stop reading if you think you might actually watch this thing or be around somebody else who's watching it.
At one point, a couple starts to form... You start rooting for them because they both seem like really nice, sincere and pleasant people. You start to wonder if this crazy experiment might work at least for this pair. It seems like they might not get together... But then yes! Yes! Against all odds, It turns out that she's going to ask him to marry her! Even though she may seem much better looking on the surface, he has very pretty eyes and he seems likely to be rich, so good for them.
Inexplicably... After doing his utmost to lure this woman, practically begging her on bended knee at various points to join him and date him and spend time with him and love him... Absolutely doing the utmost to convince her that he wants her... On a show where we all know that the only outcome of such an endeavor is for the woman to gamely step forth and ask him to marry her... This wretched MF turns her down cold. Turns her down! Right there on national television. Bait and switch. Boom! She handles it like a champion... Somehow pastes on a smile and takes a deep breath and keeps going. And then this idiot man falls down on the ground crying, his face is all red with misery and tears and snot, he's overtaken by guilt, and he could very easily run over there and say mistake mistake do over sorry... But he does not! I cursed him. Across the globe he probably suddenly tripped on the sidewalk or felt a strange pang in his side because I was so mad at him. And then I was mad at myself and ashamed for giving even one tiny f*** about this show. The real lesson here was this.
What Are You Watching?
Re: What Are You Watching?
Voices of Fire - reality Show on Netflix where Pharrell Williams' uncle and others put together a large gospel choir.
This is a reality singing show, but seems to be more real than the genre usually is - it's kind of like the early rounds of people auditioning for American Idol but with less staged and selected bits for the camera. The singers are amazing and over a few episodes they select people to form the choir. The selection process itself and how they narrow it down is unimportant from my perspective - it's just so much great singing, as well as the stories of individual members who have been through some terrible things in life but ended up here anyway. If you are religious imo this is MUST SEE television that will give you the goosebumps, and if you are not religious imo this is MUST SEE television that will give you the goosebumps, maybe for slightly different reasons but no less effectively! Here is a sample of the big song that comes out of this - you may be familiar with their Super Bowl song but this is the best one:
People (probably including me, since I remember thinking this before) are very weird about Pharrell being a satanist or something because of his "mason" references in other songs and whatnot, and because this Joy song above references Ajax the Greek hero and other things that don't strike some as adequately Biblical. I don't know, I cannot sort all that out but I see no issue with enjoying this as exactly the gospel music it appears to be on the surface, or just for the benefit of improved living. The show is worth it, really - and if you're not engrossed by the people you will have a lot of great singing moments if you leave it on in the background.
This is a reality singing show, but seems to be more real than the genre usually is - it's kind of like the early rounds of people auditioning for American Idol but with less staged and selected bits for the camera. The singers are amazing and over a few episodes they select people to form the choir. The selection process itself and how they narrow it down is unimportant from my perspective - it's just so much great singing, as well as the stories of individual members who have been through some terrible things in life but ended up here anyway. If you are religious imo this is MUST SEE television that will give you the goosebumps, and if you are not religious imo this is MUST SEE television that will give you the goosebumps, maybe for slightly different reasons but no less effectively! Here is a sample of the big song that comes out of this - you may be familiar with their Super Bowl song but this is the best one:
People (probably including me, since I remember thinking this before) are very weird about Pharrell being a satanist or something because of his "mason" references in other songs and whatnot, and because this Joy song above references Ajax the Greek hero and other things that don't strike some as adequately Biblical. I don't know, I cannot sort all that out but I see no issue with enjoying this as exactly the gospel music it appears to be on the surface, or just for the benefit of improved living. The show is worth it, really - and if you're not engrossed by the people you will have a lot of great singing moments if you leave it on in the background.
Re: What Are You Watching?
Saltburn (2023)
I would give this maybe 2 out of 5 stars at most but I recognize other people might find it more entertaining. Not sure how to summarize in a non-spoilery way... toxic relationships develop as a college kid from the wrong side of the tracks makes friends with a group of rich kids and their family members, including especially the glamourous golden boy of the group. I found the toxic relationships extremely uncomfortable to watch unfold at every level. They seemed toxic in all the ways from the start - not sure if this is how it was supposed to go or if the audience was supposed to be surprised. But it was creepy and not amusing and the ending was so weird and gross to me. Objectively I get that people find something funny about it but I just did not find it "darkly amusing" or whatever others are getting. I was like, ewww, why would I want to watch any of these people for any reason? Mainly it turned into a laundry event and tv/movies are supposed to be the solace and escape during such events, not the thing to be escaped from.
I would give this maybe 2 out of 5 stars at most but I recognize other people might find it more entertaining. Not sure how to summarize in a non-spoilery way... toxic relationships develop as a college kid from the wrong side of the tracks makes friends with a group of rich kids and their family members, including especially the glamourous golden boy of the group. I found the toxic relationships extremely uncomfortable to watch unfold at every level. They seemed toxic in all the ways from the start - not sure if this is how it was supposed to go or if the audience was supposed to be surprised. But it was creepy and not amusing and the ending was so weird and gross to me. Objectively I get that people find something funny about it but I just did not find it "darkly amusing" or whatever others are getting. I was like, ewww, why would I want to watch any of these people for any reason? Mainly it turned into a laundry event and tv/movies are supposed to be the solace and escape during such events, not the thing to be escaped from.
Re: What Are You Watching?
Hard pass for me after I heard about a grieving scene thats... (wait for it)... hard to watch.
Re: What Are You Watching?
Oh yes, haha, I had sort of blocked out that scene entirely - it was like they wanted to scandalize the audience in new ways so they tried to get creative, and it was like, ugh, who wants this? Not me. Sigh.
Similar problems with...
Love is Blind season 6 US
Horrible. Not worth your time even if you enjoy these types of shows. I can explain the appeal - they started us off with love is blind season 1 in the US, featuring a couple named Cameron and Lauren. This pair of people is one of the cutest couples ever to live - they were both just so mature and normal and pleasant to watch, and we were rooting for them, and then it worked out happily ever after and the world was right. The dramas faced by the others were mildly horrifying, which may be the motivational interest for some, but for many it's about seeing a couple figure out through this unlikely medium that they really like one another, and then it works out and they are in love and married... very cute. Usually nothing like that happens. Every so often we get another - one or two per season, so we stay hooked.
Then we were given cultural differences with Japan and Brazil versions, which were mind-blowing and fascinating. The recent Swedish version sent some kind of beautiful space alien to make me feel both a frisson of actual excitement and then like a dried up milkweed pod, which was unfortunate because I'm an old seed pod now but fortunate because, wow, a human of nearly perfect beauty wandering around on camera. The Love is blind US season 6 was ESPECIALLY terrible because they had only one successful couple, but they didn't delve into much of their depth or interaction - very superficial treatment of a couple that could have shown us something worth watching to see how they built up their relationship. The other couple worth watching was the super Christian couple who remained friends but did not feel the spark and therefore did not get married - they were, like, too ethical for the show, too nice, and so they were never featured on camera since all the oxygen was sucked up by the foolish persons with the dramas. I wanted to know ALL ABOUT the nice Christian couple and I got bupkis. Useless show.
Similar problems with...
Love is Blind season 6 US
Horrible. Not worth your time even if you enjoy these types of shows. I can explain the appeal - they started us off with love is blind season 1 in the US, featuring a couple named Cameron and Lauren. This pair of people is one of the cutest couples ever to live - they were both just so mature and normal and pleasant to watch, and we were rooting for them, and then it worked out happily ever after and the world was right. The dramas faced by the others were mildly horrifying, which may be the motivational interest for some, but for many it's about seeing a couple figure out through this unlikely medium that they really like one another, and then it works out and they are in love and married... very cute. Usually nothing like that happens. Every so often we get another - one or two per season, so we stay hooked.
Then we were given cultural differences with Japan and Brazil versions, which were mind-blowing and fascinating. The recent Swedish version sent some kind of beautiful space alien to make me feel both a frisson of actual excitement and then like a dried up milkweed pod, which was unfortunate because I'm an old seed pod now but fortunate because, wow, a human of nearly perfect beauty wandering around on camera. The Love is blind US season 6 was ESPECIALLY terrible because they had only one successful couple, but they didn't delve into much of their depth or interaction - very superficial treatment of a couple that could have shown us something worth watching to see how they built up their relationship. The other couple worth watching was the super Christian couple who remained friends but did not feel the spark and therefore did not get married - they were, like, too ethical for the show, too nice, and so they were never featured on camera since all the oxygen was sucked up by the foolish persons with the dramas. I wanted to know ALL ABOUT the nice Christian couple and I got bupkis. Useless show.
Re: What Are You Watching?
Anyone But You
I was feeling kind of depressed and cold - like physically cold. I am never cold. The novelty of it was so strange. I had to lay under blankets. I turned on Netflix and this was the first movie presented to me. I feel like I've spent some time with the Netflix and it really ought to know me better and I don't have a lot of hope for the AI because of what happened here.
I was given this romcom type movie starring Sydney Sweeney. It was so bad. After about 20 minutes, much to my horror I realized it was yet another remake/modernization of Much ado about Nothing. The middle forty minutes or so was terrible but felt essentially harmless, like perhaps they would trail off and leave it there. Wrong. By the last half hour I was clawing helplessly at my own head in disgust, and the remote control was really far away and I was too cold to move from my warm nest under the comforter.
The movie was so bad at this point, I decided to close my eyes and imagine a better version of the story and ending. I set mine on the southern coast of England, about 1924. The people were gathered to play chess, learn chess, something like that. Also like a salon, there was painting, they went on walks. My version was so good that I wept a little, or maybe I was just tired. I woke up and the movie was almost over - grotesque romcom deus ex machina in full swing, with a f($#+#@& montage set to the theme song from The Hills. I wanted to gouge out eyes but also ears and in this indecision my child entered and turned off the TV, thus sparing me from injuring myself. And I might have, that's how awful this shit movie is.
I was feeling kind of depressed and cold - like physically cold. I am never cold. The novelty of it was so strange. I had to lay under blankets. I turned on Netflix and this was the first movie presented to me. I feel like I've spent some time with the Netflix and it really ought to know me better and I don't have a lot of hope for the AI because of what happened here.
I was given this romcom type movie starring Sydney Sweeney. It was so bad. After about 20 minutes, much to my horror I realized it was yet another remake/modernization of Much ado about Nothing. The middle forty minutes or so was terrible but felt essentially harmless, like perhaps they would trail off and leave it there. Wrong. By the last half hour I was clawing helplessly at my own head in disgust, and the remote control was really far away and I was too cold to move from my warm nest under the comforter.
The movie was so bad at this point, I decided to close my eyes and imagine a better version of the story and ending. I set mine on the southern coast of England, about 1924. The people were gathered to play chess, learn chess, something like that. Also like a salon, there was painting, they went on walks. My version was so good that I wept a little, or maybe I was just tired. I woke up and the movie was almost over - grotesque romcom deus ex machina in full swing, with a f($#+#@& montage set to the theme song from The Hills. I wanted to gouge out eyes but also ears and in this indecision my child entered and turned off the TV, thus sparing me from injuring myself. And I might have, that's how awful this shit movie is.
Re: What Are You Watching?
Baby Reindeer- Has anyone else seen this? I'm halfway through this british "comedy" about a man being stalked by a mentally disturbed woman. This shit is getting dark fast. But I haven't finished it yet, although I suspect it's going to get even darker.
Re: What Are You Watching?
I now have some decent internet at the homestead, but not a lot of time for using it. I do have Prime and Netflix. I am mostly just using my Xbox for viewing it now except for when I am playing Fallout 4.
Speaking of Fallout..thats what I have watched and it is worth the wait while also being better than I expected.
We just finished Bull's last episode today. It started poorly but seasons 2-6 were great
The Rookie ...just wrapped up season 6 and more to come.
I'm currently watching Resident Alien starring Alan Tudyk on Netflix
Speaking of Fallout..thats what I have watched and it is worth the wait while also being better than I expected.
We just finished Bull's last episode today. It started poorly but seasons 2-6 were great
The Rookie ...just wrapped up season 6 and more to come.
I'm currently watching Resident Alien starring Alan Tudyk on Netflix
"Yay! I'm for the other team."
Re: What Are You Watching?
I started watching baby reindeer and I find it deeply disturbing for a lot of reasons I tried to type out but cannot accomplish. One reason is the personal experience... Luckily the person who was most stalkery to me was a fairly harmless guy who was willing to talk to any person who would talk to him, which meant that it wasn't specific to me and he would talk to a lot of different people... Back in the days of telephones that hung on the wall, he would just call around hoping to talk to someone to help him with the voices in his head. Various lesser stalkers have shown up over the years but they proved possible to shake. The other bad experience I have probably intimated somewhere here in the past... I honestly still can't talk about even though all the people involved are long since deceased, but it shook me so much that it was hard to watch this show even a little bit. I've only made it into episode 3 part way... Apparently it gets worse and I just don't know if I can go that far.
I also find it difficult to consider the victim/main character himself, especially once I realized he was reenacting his own personal real life story. About four bazillion red flags popped right out there. I feel different mixtures of feelings about him... Both sympathy and fear because my red flagging device flags him as a weird dude. But also sympathy born of the fact that I know what it's like to let fear drive you to do dumb things, and I've done them myself, and it's really important to fix those things in yourself. So to the extent I'm seeing things I wish he would fix in himself, I needed to fix those things in myself as well. There's a judgment but also a certain amount of sympathy despite the judgment. It's hard to explain. The show freaks me out and the people who have talked to me about it have definitely seen and experienced it in a different way than I do - but they've also seen the whole thing and I have only seen the first few episodes plus the interview with the real life woman supposedly on Piers Morgan. Essentially it seems like she is a criminally insane stalker, but then the guy reminds me very much of a lot of messed up dudes I've had to tango with in the past. He's got issues that bother me, but I also realize I've shared some of those issues myself simply by living through these experiences and becoming paranoid about them repeating. Like if I think somebody is weird or a stalker I am certainly going to investigate, and that itself is weird! The difference for me is the location of the boundaries, maybe - I think you just don't physically go near other people or touch them or anything like that without explicit invitation. But I know the names of all my neighbors who fly the don't tread on me flag. So you know... People might consider me the problem for knowing that.
I also find it difficult to consider the victim/main character himself, especially once I realized he was reenacting his own personal real life story. About four bazillion red flags popped right out there. I feel different mixtures of feelings about him... Both sympathy and fear because my red flagging device flags him as a weird dude. But also sympathy born of the fact that I know what it's like to let fear drive you to do dumb things, and I've done them myself, and it's really important to fix those things in yourself. So to the extent I'm seeing things I wish he would fix in himself, I needed to fix those things in myself as well. There's a judgment but also a certain amount of sympathy despite the judgment. It's hard to explain. The show freaks me out and the people who have talked to me about it have definitely seen and experienced it in a different way than I do - but they've also seen the whole thing and I have only seen the first few episodes plus the interview with the real life woman supposedly on Piers Morgan. Essentially it seems like she is a criminally insane stalker, but then the guy reminds me very much of a lot of messed up dudes I've had to tango with in the past. He's got issues that bother me, but I also realize I've shared some of those issues myself simply by living through these experiences and becoming paranoid about them repeating. Like if I think somebody is weird or a stalker I am certainly going to investigate, and that itself is weird! The difference for me is the location of the boundaries, maybe - I think you just don't physically go near other people or touch them or anything like that without explicit invitation. But I know the names of all my neighbors who fly the don't tread on me flag. So you know... People might consider me the problem for knowing that.
Re: What Are You Watching?
Baby Reindeer
Ok, I watched a little more and all I have to say is HOLEEEE S#$@!!!! I don't have the energy to consider what I wrote before but just keep in mind I had not watched very much of the show yet... I had no idea what was to come! I can't finish it yet. Maybe on the weekend.
Ok, I watched a little more and all I have to say is HOLEEEE S#$@!!!! I don't have the energy to consider what I wrote before but just keep in mind I had not watched very much of the show yet... I had no idea what was to come! I can't finish it yet. Maybe on the weekend.
Re: What Are You Watching?
Baby Reindeer was a tough watch, but I did enjoy it. I started a lot of interesting conversation with my family watching it.
We also watched Expedition from Hell on HBO Max. It's about a guy who wants to "raise money for kids with cancer" by hiking an expedition 5,000 miles across the widest part of South America. The guy is completely insane and I think just wanted to be famous. The expedition was incredibly poorly planned, but did I mention the main guy is super crazy? Every episode gets crazier and scarier than the one before it. Great watch.
We also watched Expedition from Hell on HBO Max. It's about a guy who wants to "raise money for kids with cancer" by hiking an expedition 5,000 miles across the widest part of South America. The guy is completely insane and I think just wanted to be famous. The expedition was incredibly poorly planned, but did I mention the main guy is super crazy? Every episode gets crazier and scarier than the one before it. Great watch.
Re: What Are You Watching?
Bridgerton - season 3
So far as frothy and delightful as expected. Narrative floundering around a little bit oh well, at this point I'm watching for every Queen Charlotte wig and every green dress Penelope wears, so I don't need the show to accomplish a whole lot more.
Baby Reindeer
I quit watching it right around the peak of discomfort and luckily the discomfort continues for a while but then starts to taper off towards the end. As he starts to understand and reassert control over his situation, and the pace of distressing events slows, it is easier to watch. I also found it helpful that he displays much more understanding and compassion toward Martha at the end then we saw at the beginning. The ending really sewed it all up for me in an extremely positive way. Like we really understand all the wrongs and violations that have occurred along the way, but at the same time he understands exactly what it was people were to blame for and what their motivations might have been. He gives us a clear view of his own role in the situation, even as he's dealing with trauma, which must have been very hard to do. So I guess I appreciated the show the most after watching the last episode and the whole thing kind of came into view kaleidoscope style.
It was a difficult watch but definitely strongly recommend. People who have experienced anything like these situations are doubtless going to be drawn into some memories of them which can be disturbing, but ultimately I felt like the understanding conveyed was quite affirming and meaningful.
So far as frothy and delightful as expected. Narrative floundering around a little bit oh well, at this point I'm watching for every Queen Charlotte wig and every green dress Penelope wears, so I don't need the show to accomplish a whole lot more.
Baby Reindeer
I quit watching it right around the peak of discomfort and luckily the discomfort continues for a while but then starts to taper off towards the end. As he starts to understand and reassert control over his situation, and the pace of distressing events slows, it is easier to watch. I also found it helpful that he displays much more understanding and compassion toward Martha at the end then we saw at the beginning. The ending really sewed it all up for me in an extremely positive way. Like we really understand all the wrongs and violations that have occurred along the way, but at the same time he understands exactly what it was people were to blame for and what their motivations might have been. He gives us a clear view of his own role in the situation, even as he's dealing with trauma, which must have been very hard to do. So I guess I appreciated the show the most after watching the last episode and the whole thing kind of came into view kaleidoscope style.
It was a difficult watch but definitely strongly recommend. People who have experienced anything like these situations are doubtless going to be drawn into some memories of them which can be disturbing, but ultimately I felt like the understanding conveyed was quite affirming and meaningful.