What are you presently hooked on over at NetFlix?

I was a bit late to the world of NetFlix, having only just started a subscription over a year ago. No regrets. So many great offerings.

My latest “binge” was with BroadChurch, a 3 season series set in a small coastal English town, centered around a mysterious murder investigation. David Tennant stars in it. Tremendous quality not only in cinematography and story, but also the acting.

Anyone here remember the Jim Henson movie from the early 1980’s called “The Dark Crystal?” When I saw a “Dark Crystal” entry in the NetFlix list of recently added productions, and as a “Netflix Original”, I was intrigued. A remastered version of the legendary “Dark Crystal” from the early 1980’s? No, a kind of continuation or revisit of the original premise, where the Skeksis have returned and once again took control of the dark crystal. Curious. I gave the 1st episode a watch but had to break off half-way through. I do plan to continue watching, though.

I have to correct this — there are real puppets used in this production. LINK. Obviously not done with real puppets but with advanced CGI. Yet, incredibly, so true to form. Seems like they must’ve done some CGI overlay, though, for certain effects. Like you said, they really captured the unique aesthetic design created by Jim Henson’s company for the original movie. I like how they didn’t try to make these creatures more “true to life”, but simply refined their puppet like qualities to make them more “perfect.” The artwork is so amazingly well replicated. And also, the voices of the characters, especially the Skeksis, sound so much like the original. They did go a little overboard on the Chamberlain’s “Mmmmmmm, hhhhmmmmm,” murmurings, but that was a very funny quality from the original so it was hilarious to hear it again.

I enjoyed Broadchurch quite a lot. Interesting twists in there and some really human reactions to the different things that life throws our way.

I remembered the Dark Crystal as a kid, had my 12 year old watch the original and he was pretty intrigued with the weirdness of it all. No CGI except for a little green screen stuff and the crazy trippy imagination of Henson. We are looking forward to watching the series to see what new strangeness lurks around the corners.

Some Netflix favorites for me include:

Mindhunter: FBI getting a grip on serial killers in the 70s. Really fascinating and dark. I loved it, especially since it’s based on real people and events.

Bordertown is a Finnish cop show with some darkness and really interesting characters. I think one thing I like so much about it is that the story is not anything like a traditional Hollywood formula. The main character is a pretty interesting fellow.

Luther is a good “renegade cop on the edge” show with Idris Elba. His nemesis, Alice, is a FANTASTIC character.

Hotel Beau Sejour is a Belgian take on a ghost story that’s COMPLETELY unique. I loved it.

Other series I’ve been digging are True Detective (season 1 is highly recommended, 2 sucked and 3 was pretty good), Ozark, Tabula Rasa, River, Happy Valley, La Mante, Case, Department Q and Marcella. Lots of “renegade cop” stuff again in a few of the titles. Hope someone enjoys some of these recommendations.

Just finished up Black Mirror. Different but cool.

My mother recommended Patriot Act, watched 33 seconds of the first episode. Not really sure if there was a second one. It matters not.

I like unique humor. Hardy Bucks and Trailer Park Boys are always fun to watch. Seen em all but, I will remember something that made me laugh and check out that episode again.

Ozark was okay. The wife got me watching that one. She got me watching The Ranch as well. I could live without it. It’s time spent with her so I can suck it up for a few episodes.

I watch a lot of documentaries. Behind The Curve was interesting. I found out flat earther’s are really just “hey look at me” type people and their flawed logic completely bites em in the rear at the end. They can never go back to who they were. They have to own this flat earth thing forever. Hey, the feeble minded need love too.

If you like stand up, check out Jo Koy, he has two specials on Netflix. I find him funny, others may not.

I like a lot of comedians.

I remember Jo Koy mainly for his regular appearances on Chelsea Lately.

He's pretty funny.

A couple of years ago I started a similar thread on multitool.org forum, there’s a lot of good suggestions there, I’ll just post the link, too much to go through and type:

MTO Netflix thread

Just finished The Dark Crystal Age of Resistance, explains alot and really ties the movie together

The Staircase. A true crime documentary, super interesting. A mans wife dies by falling down some stairs. Or did she? You decide if he did it or not, and if so, is there enough evidence to convict him?

Breaking Bad.

Hemlock Grove.

There’s a documentary on Ted Bundy that was pretty good. Pretty much all the serial killer documentaries are interesting.

Making a Murderer. Excellent documentary about a man who was wrongly convicted of a crime and spent nearly two decades in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. Eventually it is proven he was not the perpetrator of the crime and he was released from prison. He then sues the County and the Sheriff’s office. While suing, he is arrested for murder. If you haven’t seen this series, it should be on the top of your watch list. It is incredible.

Mindhunter.

I am streaming Breaking Bad again, can’t wait for Oct 11 when “El Camino” launches!

Nope, they are puppets, and most of the sets are actual genuinely built things. There’s still lots of CGI, but it is less animated 3d model stuff and more removing wires and puppeteers type of stuff. They are doing a tour showcasing the puppets right now, which would be very cool to see.

The Chamberlain is evil Grover.

I’ll second Mindhunter as being very well done. I’m not as happy with season 2 as season 1, but it’s still very good.

A good chunk of their stuff co-produced with the BBC or Cahnnel4 are all pretty solid.

I’m currently watching Mindhunter and liking it. Been through Ozark, Breaking Bad, especially enjoyed Peaky Blinders, and Sherlock.

I forgot Peaky Blinders. Awesome show!

… and for those patiently awaiting the next season of “Narcos - Mexico,” 3 seasons of “El Chapo.”

The REALLY nice thing is…it has the “feel” of the movie that was made in 1982…

And yes…The Chamberlain “skekSil” (which I didn’t know they actually had names…other than their titles)

Got into “The Spy”. Short mini-series of 6 episodes. It stars Sacha Baron Cohen. But… absolutely nothing to do with his comical characters of the past. Cohen stars as Cohen. Eli Cohen. The famed Israeli spy from the 60’s who infiltrated Syria. His fate is known, as their is nothing to spoil… and the 1st episode telegraphs it. But wow, what a performance by Sacha Baron Cohen. I had no idea he had this level of acting within him.

Seems you are right about that. LINK. I still think they must have done some CGI overlays on the puppets then, because of the lighting and some graphics that are portrayed look just like it.

My wife keeps forcing me to watch Korean series on netflix and I'm starting to like them now. The last few days we have been watching K2. In the beginning the music was overkill but then it calmed down and overall K2 is a lot of fun to watch. After watching a couple of Korean shows now, I'd have to say that they have way more imagination than anything Hollywood is producing lately. Another thing we noticed is that they can really act.

just watching Season 5 Peaky Blinders. Finished ser 4 last night
Hmmm 2.45 this morn. Bloody addictive those things,
once you start.

Recently finished (with missus) watching that Human/Flying Faries series.
Carnival Row. THAT was a lot better than I thought it would be.

I’m just D/Loading Malificent Mistress of evil. But Kickass is down at present.
Have to go elsewhere for a coupla days I think.

Dark was very gripping. Can’t wait for the 3rd season.

Nothing ATM. Moved into a new house in July, put the TV in the basement, and have only watched about 6 hours since. Still adding things to my list, however!