krankydoodle

Poor Hannah. That scene where she tries to call Owen back after their talk around the fire is crushing. This was the best of the episodes I watched. I think it would've hit even harder if it hadn't reminded me of a similarly structured episode of Castle Rock.

The closest thing I can think of is the Hammer film The Curse of the Werewolf where the werewolf is the son of a woman who was raped by a crazed prisoner but IIRC the mother dies during the birth. But that's probably not what you're remembering, sorry.

Ha, I didn't recognize Matthew Holness of Garth Marenghi's Darkplace fame as Dominic Wingrave until someone pointed it out.

I'm surprised no one's mentioned how Noel couldn't resist saying "Those boots were made for walking" to Rowan after making the announcement that he was leaving, with the camera then panning down to show Rowan's boots. I sometimes found him irritating, but it's to his credit that Rowan could take a playful comment like that in stride, so to speak, even though he must've been really disappointed after having just squeaked by last week.

Yeah, I feel like a jerk but I just had such high hopes for the show. Given the positive reviews, I've been wondering if I'm missing something or am being too nitpicky. Oh my gosh, yes! Especially on the second point because I don't know what Pedretti is going for but I hate it.

I'm sorry to say that I laughed when Dani's fiance got hit by the truck, and then again when she was trying to rush his poor mom away when her taxi showed up. It all just feels so clunky. The worst is probably the narration. I keep forgetting that this is a story Carla Gugino is telling until her voiceover is randomly inserted into a scene that doesn't need it. This has been really disappointing so far, but I've seen good reviews for the show from people I generally agree with so maybe it gets better. And I've enjoyed just about all of Mike Flanagan's previous work so I really want to like this, but it's hard going as others have already noted in previous episode topics.

This show isn't really working for me so far, but Oliver Jackson-Cohen's handsomeness is making up for a lot.

This isn't off to as good a start as The Haunting of Hill House. I don't like Carla Gugino's voiceover and even Victoria Pedretti, who I loved in Hill House, seems a bit flat here. And while the child actors aren't bad, they don't make an immediate impression like the Hill House kids did. Anyway, I should stop comparing and take this series on its on terms. I am happy to see Rahul Kohli and the setting is promising. I also like T'Nia Miller as Mrs. Grose, and the ghost that's stalking Dani via mirrors is genuinely creepy.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed Shudder's Host. The premise sounds kind of gimmicky and goofy ("Six friends hire a medium to hold a seance via Zoom during lockdown, but they get far more than they bargained for as things quickly go wrong."), but I thought it was really well-executed especially given the constraints of lockdown. I really want to watch some of the classics that have been on my list like Roger Corman's Poe adaptations with Vincent Price and the Hammer Films with Peter Cushing/Christopher Lee, but am also looking forward to some newer titles like Synchronic. I don't think I've seen much discussion about The Craft sequel/remake/whatever it is and I'm not excited about it myself, but am mildly curious and at least it has David Duchovny(!) and Michelle Monaghan.

I don't know what the deal is with Laurence Fox, who I used to enjoy on Inspector Lewis, but he's reached such a level of awfulness that I don't think I'll ever be able to rewatch the show. He recently tweeted that he was boycotting the supermarket chain Sainsbury's after they announced their support of Black History Month, then called some of the people who challenged him pedophiles.

Dave's shoulder shimmies cracked me up. I also warmed up to him more when he scolded his dog for refusing to go on and then just gave up and carried him home. Ha, I kind of loved that sweater. Someone pointed out that unlike last year, this year's crop of bakers vary quite a bit in terms of age. I think that's one of the reasons I'm enjoying this season more already. On a related note, I felt ancient when I realized Pete was only 10 when Bake Off first started.

I hadn't planned on watching this season after being disappointed with the last few, but dang if I didn't get sucked in again! This one's off to a good start: a lot of immediately appealing bakers, Matt Lucas's smooth integration, some low-key drama, and Paul's new and improved hairstyle. And I may be alone, but I thought the Freddie Mercury bust was adorable despite its neck-lessness. ETA: I'm rooting for Sura if only because she walks her cat outside on a leash. As someone who tried and failed miserably at doing that with my own cat, I'm both impressed and enchanted.

I'm in the middle of Piranesi by Susanna Clarke and loving it so far. The mysteries of where we are and who's who and wth is happening are compelling, but the potential threats to the (at least seemingly) innocent and vulnerable protagonist are stressing me out. It helps that the book is relatively short. Meanwhile, the massive and still unread Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell sits accusingly on my bookshelf going on 8 years, so I should probably get to that soon.

Peacock is finally available through Roku. I've been enjoying dipping into Monk and Murder, She Wrote and am happy they have some classic horror movies to watch in October, but I'm a little annoyed that a few of the movies I had on my watchlist are gone. I know rights can get complicated and expensive, but they launched so recently that I didn't expect them to be removing stuff so soon. Oh, well. At least a good number of Hitchcock's movies are still up.

Ooh, I didn't realize that Suburgatory's free to stream on CW Seed--with ads, but whatever. I've missed this show and am looking forward to a rewatch to see if it's as good as I remember.

What a fun--and potentially frustrating--topic! That It's a Living opening brings back memories. I haven't gotten around to rewatching it yet, but I was excited to find that The Critic is free to stream on Crackle. The Days and Nights of Molly Dodd and Homefront have already been mentioned, but I'd also love to see Brooklyn Bridge, I'll Fly Away, and Remember WENN again. The latter was AMC's first scripted show IIRC, and was pretty low-budget but was so clever and well-made. I'm still mad that it was canceled after ending on a cliffhanger.

From Sarah Halley Finn, the casting director responsible for a lot of the major players in the MCU: Why Chadwick Boseman Was Always the ‘Unanimous’ Choice for Black Panther. I didn't know he had auditioned for the role of Drax in Guardians. I didn't expect to be hit so hard by this, but damn if I didn't cry again after watching that Marvel tribute.

I'm not sure when it was added to Prime. I just noticed that it kept coming up in my recommendations over the past month or so. Yes, Brother Jerome was the worst! I know he was supposed to be an unlikable character, but he was almost too successful at it.

I haven't been watching much Netflix lately, but was excited to see that Criminal: UK is coming back for another season in September. I'll probably check out Young Wallander, too. It's a little odd that though it's set in Sweden, everyone's speaking English with a variety of accents, but that type of thing generally doesn't bother me. I'm enjoying a rewatch of Cadfael on Amazon Prime, but wish Sean Pertwee had been able to stay on as the Sheriff for the whole run.

I see they've made another interesting song choice for the trailer. I don't think it works, but it's not as egregious as Believer was for Murder on The Orient Express though that also means it probably won't generate as much discussion. I can't say I'm excited about this adaptation, but I am curious to find out what's been changed from the book.

I love Caroline Siede's When Romance Met Comedy series at the AV Club and today she reminded me about the existence of Keeping the Faith. The romance was probably my least favorite part of the movie, but I remember enjoying it well enough. It's weird that this is the first of only 2 movies Edward Norton directed because it seems so off-brand for him, but it's too bad he didn't do more roles in this vein because he's so likable and charming in it.

I don't know why Amazon US doesn't have it yet since it's been well over a year since it aired in the UK. It is available on Amazon UK, but I assume it's region-locked.

I missed it if this has already been posted, but Vulture published an interesting article about that at the time: What the Debate Around Black American and British Actors Gets Wrong

I'm so excited for this show!

I rewatched the first 3 Bourne movies on Peacock this week and got annoyed all over again about how they killed off Nicky Parsons in Jason Bourne. I know she was meant to be a supporting player, but they went to the trouble of bulking up her role in the third movie by suggesting a history with Bourne only to use her to kick off the plot of the fourth movie and then unceremoniously dispose of her. I'll always have a soft spot for Julia Stiles because of 10 Things I Hate About You, but I think the character deserved better regardless. ETA: Since that's more frustration than anything else, I'll add Johnny Smith in The Dead Zone for a devastating death. Christopher Walken gave a heartbreaking performance in that movie and I don't think it gets enough attention when people talk about successful Stephen King adaptations. At least Johnny succeeds in exposing Stillson at the end and was already dying because of his condition, but seeing Brooke Adams weeping over him still makes me cry.