Salamander is the one I was thinking of(Didn't amount to much when all was said & done, wouldn't bother finishing it)
― "The" Blink-182 (wins), Sunday, 15 October 2017 19:33 (six years ago) link
I am only one ep deep into Suburra but I'm liking it. I read the book a few weeks ago so I'm still trying to sort out who is who/what has been changed or removed or altered. But I like it. The haircuts are terrible but maybe that's what roman club kids looked like in 2008. On the Italian tip, highly recommend Romanzo Criminale, though it's on Filmstruck and not Netflix. Set in the seventies-into-the-eighties, also in Rome. It tells the story of the Magliana gang, who at that time scrapped their way up from armed robbery to the major drug/sex traffickers in Rome. I would like to watch Gommorah; I liked the film and I'm on a bit of an Italian crime kick it seems.
Still lots upthread that I need to check out. I liked the Lava Field & Wallander. Been wanting to watch Spiral for ages but never got around to it. I do like the Annika Bengtzon telefilms abt the lady reporter. Her home life in those sorta reminds me of one of the things I liked abt (US tv series) Medium.
― ian, Sunday, 15 October 2017 19:49 (six years ago) link
xxp
Deutschland 83 looked very nice, but was hampered with some awful expositional dialogue iirc. The one clunker too far for me was something like: This Cold War is getting Hot!
― calzino, Sunday, 15 October 2017 19:49 (six years ago) link
also just finished suburra e1: will start a thread for it shortly, after i finish handwashing my jumper
(it's a nice plain black jumper but i totally covet the fabulous tentacular octopus-pattern jumper worn by giacomo ferrara as alberto: no pix on the internet yet which is a sorry state of affairs)
― mark s, Sunday, 15 October 2017 19:54 (six years ago) link
SUBURRA: BLOOD OF ROME aka sex, drugs, violence and ZONING (and the wickedest of these is zoning, my son)
― mark s, Sunday, 15 October 2017 20:37 (six years ago) link
love that so many euro corruption thrillers -- esp.southern europe but not exclusivly -- are abt (a) drugs and (b) ZONING
also The Wire!
― Choco Blavatsky (seandalai), Sunday, 15 October 2017 21:18 (six years ago) link
one day i shall watch the wire
― mark s, Sunday, 15 October 2017 21:19 (six years ago) link
I have a fair tolerance for this stuff (e.g. watched the entirety of the very mediocre Black Lake on iPlayer) but could not get through more than half of Salamander or Witnesses - be warned.
― Choco Blavatsky (seandalai), Sunday, 15 October 2017 21:20 (six years ago) link
The bbc4 phenom always makes me think that there must be tv snobs in Denmark or wherever going fucking nuts for midsomer murders & lewis
― "The" Blink-182 (wins), 15. oktober 2017 17:42 (five hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
They're on almost every saturday night. I'm not sure that many snobs watch it, though. I used to watch so much Rebus growing up, I picked up an awful fake scottish accent.
― Frederik B, Sunday, 15 October 2017 21:30 (six years ago) link
They're on almost every saturday night
this is bizarrely pleasing to me
― mark s, Sunday, 15 October 2017 21:38 (six years ago) link
Tonight it was Inspector George Gently, followed by Murder City and The Honorable Woman. Then a couple of episodes of Upstairs Downstairs to end the night.
Actually my ex-girlfriend was watching all this, when she wasn't busy writing queer analyses of ancient greek tragedies. She was kinda snobbish, and so so cool :(
― Frederik B, Sunday, 15 October 2017 22:00 (six years ago) link
There are 3 worthwhile Japanese shows
MIDNIGHT DINER - endearing and heartwarming story about the people who frequent a late night diner in a working class Tokyo neighborhood. This is a phenomenon across Asia with a (good) Korean version and a (bad) Chinese version and a bunch of movie spinoffs. Heartwarming in the best possible way.
SAMURAI GOURMET - not as good as midnight diner but it’s the story of a salaryman who deals with retirement by exploring local restaurants.
JAPAN STYLE ORIGINATOR - possibly the only lifestyle magazine show on Netflix but it’s great for the insight into Japanese culture and features such informative episodes as the 50 cheapest things to eat with rice, 25 ways to eat your New Years mochi and a goat of ‘how it’s made’ type segments where they look at how various Japanese crafts are made. Very relaxing TV.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Monday, 16 October 2017 10:23 (six years ago) link
A goat?
― mor frog bs (S-), Monday, 16 October 2017 11:17 (six years ago) link
I loved OCCUPIED and very much want the second series (basically, fossil-fuel-rich Norway goes completely green and shuts down its oil/gas industry, and Russia stages a "soft" invasion to take over)
More soapie-ish but very well done: 30 DEGREES IN FEBRUARY: various Swedes head off to Thailand to escape their troubled lives, discover that unfortunately they are still themselves
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Wednesday, 18 October 2017 00:38 (six years ago) link
finished SUBURRA (italian), began MAR DE PLÁSTICO (spanish)
― mark s, Friday, 20 October 2017 20:24 (six years ago) link
Salamander is the one I was thinking of
oh, that was quite good!
I have a few of these Euro-tv streaming subscriptions, so I forget which series are on Netflix vs. the other ones.
Spiral/Engrenage (might be on Netflix?) is French, and was billed as France's answer to The Wire. It isn't quite as intricate, but it is really good in other ways.
― sarahell, Friday, 20 October 2017 20:38 (six years ago) link
Oh, another Netflix one I watched recently -- Silver Spoon -- it's Russian. A bit silly and over the top in parts, and it would make for an interesting discussion whether it's implicitly/explicitly critical of Putin/oligarchs or not.
― sarahell, Friday, 20 October 2017 20:40 (six years ago) link
SPIRAL was on UK TV in the noir slot, and I liked the little bit I watched but I missed too much of the start to get properly embedded.
MAR DE PLÁSTICO is kind of boring, also the chiselled cop who's the lead is like a bland pierce brosnan mini-me
― mark s, Friday, 20 October 2017 21:16 (six years ago) link
ok it just woke up a bit -- murder leads to nasty racial tension in a southern spanish town -- but the lead cop fights off 20 ppl like he's batman, that's the boring bit
― mark s, Friday, 20 October 2017 21:24 (six years ago) link
seriously - just watch "Mafiosa" on CH4/Walter Presents .. so good.S1 was ok despite the presence of some over acting, but things really improved from S2 onwards.
― mark e, Friday, 20 October 2017 21:28 (six years ago) link
season 2 of Okkupert and 3 of Gomorrah - hurry up!
― calzino, Friday, 20 October 2017 22:20 (six years ago) link
where are you watching gomorrah?
― mark s, Friday, 20 October 2017 22:44 (six years ago) link
from torrent sites, always. I work on the flawed presumption that if the torrents have subtitled versions of a Euro series, then it must be on Netflix.
― calzino, Friday, 20 October 2017 22:52 (six years ago) link
haha yes it's available via amazon but not amazon prime (which i do pay for) so i guess that's why it's subtitled -- so i can stump up some more when i'm feeling flush
― mark s, Friday, 20 October 2017 23:01 (six years ago) link
Spiral (S2 and S3 especially) is super good
― Choco Blavatsky (seandalai), Saturday, 21 October 2017 21:41 (six years ago) link
Method is up now (at least in the UK). Based on the first episode it seems like the synthesis of every other loose-cannon-profiler-with-personal-demons cop show. I’ll stick with it though. Khabensky is usually good.
― Wag1 Shree Rajneesh (ShariVari), Friday, 8 December 2017 22:14 (six years ago) link
I just watched the first episode of the South Korean procedural Stranger. Some of the acting/exposition was way over the top (A string of surprise witnesses, each more surprising than the last!)but it was strangely compelling.
At the more serious end of the scale, the French sky show the Bureau on amazon prime was excellent, easily putting to shame the similar stuff I've seen from the BBC recently.
― .robin., Saturday, 9 December 2017 09:00 (six years ago) link
previously mentioned midnight diner + hibana: spark is decent too, from a novel by matayoshi naoki that won the akutagawa prize, about a struggling manzai duo who try to break into the world of japanese standup.
― XxxxxxxXxxxxxxxxXxxxx (dylannn), Saturday, 9 December 2017 09:26 (six years ago) link
I finished Method and though it seals liberally from The Bridge, Sherlock, Dexter, Nikita, and pretty much every other crime show of the last two decades, it ends up being pretty great. The tone is all over the place at the start but it settles into an OTT nihilist bleakness that would be difficult to get away with without such good leads. It’s completely ludicrous, pitch-black and Problematic in a number of ways but Konstantin Khabensky and Paulina Andreeva pull it through somehow.
I think there must have been some legal action threatened wrt plagiarism as the producer of Dexter is credited as one of the creators. It’s vastly better though.
― Wag1 Shree Rajneesh (ShariVari), Monday, 18 December 2017 15:23 (six years ago) link
Terrace House: Boys and Girls is the only answer to this.
― Yerac, Monday, 18 December 2017 17:28 (six years ago) link
just started THE METHOD and also APACHES (which literally has *record scratch* "my name is miguel, you're wondering how i got here" as its kicker)
just finished WITNESSES s2 (on bb4 rather than netflix) -- which was colossally silly with a handful of half-realised ideas
― mark s, Monday, 18 December 2017 19:13 (six years ago) link
think APACHES is going to be garbage, so far (6 minutes in) there's been a double flashback and then a flash forward
― mark s, Monday, 18 December 2017 19:23 (six years ago) link
I loved Au Service de la France and have been eagerly awaiting S2 for some time now.
― Thomas Gabriel Fischer does not endorse (aldo), Tuesday, 19 December 2017 12:17 (six years ago) link
Spiral is back on BBC4 this week, i think.
On an (almost) completely different note, i found the first season of Call My Agent / Dix Pour Cent quite charming and am pleased that the second is now up on Netflix. It's a fairly gentle comedy with French stars (including Audrey Fleurot) playing fictionalised versions of themselves. Adjani and Binoche are apparently in S2.
― Wag1 Shree Rajneesh (ShariVari), Tuesday, 19 December 2017 12:25 (six years ago) link
That looks like something I need to see.
― Thomas Gabriel Fischer does not endorse (aldo), Tuesday, 19 December 2017 12:57 (six years ago) link
whaaaaaaaa
― Choco Blavatsky (seandalai), Wednesday, 20 December 2017 02:04 (six years ago) link
anyone watch dad of light yet
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Wednesday, 20 December 2017 05:38 (six years ago) link
Xp, season six starts on the 30th!
― Wag1 Shree Rajneesh (ShariVari), Wednesday, 20 December 2017 08:06 (six years ago) link
Flag Post Permalink
― Yerac, Monday, December 18, 2017 12:28 PM (two days ago) Bookmark]
aloha state starts getting wild in the later parts
― 龜, Wednesday, 20 December 2017 13:11 (six years ago) link
Yeah I watched Aloha State first because I was living in Oahu while they were filming it, but the Tokyo one is overall better. There were some serious duds on Aloha State.
― Yerac, Wednesday, 20 December 2017 14:01 (six years ago) link
Two episodes into La Mante and...it’s not good. Cheapo copycat serial killer drama though Carol Bouquet obviously elevates it.
― Wag1 Shree Rajneesh (ShariVari), Friday, 29 December 2017 18:50 (six years ago) link
Dark looks good after one episode. Shades of Donnie Darko and the unfortunate comparison's gonna be to stranger things but it looks suitably creepy. Had to switch off the dubbing after like 5 mins ugh it was bad.
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Friday, 29 December 2017 23:33 (six years ago) link
Eight episodes into Dark and the plot still hasn't completely fallen apart yet so that's good I guess. Compared to the bright consumerist Germany of Deutschland 83, the 80s we see here is dull and rainy and still looks like the 60s or 70s. Pity the characters are such non-entities.
― Choco Blavatsky (seandalai), Saturday, 30 December 2017 02:17 (six years ago) link
Not a series but we watched An Off-Day Game, a Malayalam art film that Netflix is carrying for some reason (with subtitles) and thought it was great. For a fairly low-budget film, the shots are gorgeous and the story is brutal but reveals itself gradually. Basically, it's about four middle-aged guys who get drunk on an election day [which are holidays in Kerala] and the way their dark sides are progressively revealed in the way they treat each other. It probably helps to have a basic understanding of Kerala politics and Indian caste and colour prejudices and discrimination. (Broadly, the two main political coalitions are a coalition led by the Communists who are probably the most anti-caste party and a Congress-led coalition who would be centre-left by mainstream Indian standards but function as the more right-wing side in the context of Kerala.)
― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Saturday, 30 December 2017 02:26 (six years ago) link
There’s a dystopian Brazilian thing, name is something like SIX PERCENT, that I didn’t see mentioned yet which I watched a little of once, wasn’t compelled enough to keep watching.
― Steely Rodin (James Redd and the Blecchs), Saturday, 30 December 2017 03:12 (six years ago) link
no hype yet for THE SWEET TOOTH SALARYMAN?
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Saturday, 30 December 2017 04:11 (six years ago) link
http://i0.wp.com/i.imgur.com/qeWRJXU.jpg
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Saturday, 30 December 2017 04:13 (six years ago) link
Pity the characters are such non-entities.
Yeah the actors/acting doesnt sparkle much, but I'll give it a go.
― Stoop Crone (Trayce), Saturday, 30 December 2017 04:40 (six years ago) link
no hype yet for THE SWEET TOOTH SALARYMAN?― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Saturday, 30 December 2017 3:11 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Saturday, 30 December 2017 3:11 PM (three hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
I mentioned it on the other Netflix thread. It’s a fun show and inspired me ordering anmitsu in Tokyo the other week.
― American Fear of Pranksterism (Ed), Saturday, 30 December 2017 07:38 (six years ago) link
haha i don't know what the experience i had watching the first episode was but it certainly wasn't 'fun'
― the ghost of tom, choad (thomp), Saturday, 30 December 2017 07:58 (six years ago) link
Haven't seen! My Portuguese netflix knowledge revolves mainly about the upcoming series about that time a shipload of cocaine sunk near the island I lived on and everyone went coke crazy for a few years (my mum ran a club at the time and all the musicians turned insufferable).
Happy to answer any questions :)
― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 2 April 2023 15:41 (one year ago) link
oh, the show is a spy thriller where the main character is a KGB agent and son of a government minister. The main character Joao appears to have been "converted" after serving in the military in Angola ... so there are issues re colonialism, and Portuguese "independence" from American influence ... like there are KGB agents, CIA agents, and PICE (?) agents?
― sarahell, Sunday, 2 April 2023 15:44 (one year ago) link
Salazar is the head of the government -- I think you mentioned something about him in another thread -- re the revolution?
― sarahell, Sunday, 2 April 2023 15:45 (one year ago) link
as in I have questions about historical background lol, not the show!
There was a military coup in the 1920's and Portugal basically stayed a dictatorship from then until 1974. Salazar first made a name for himself as the finance minister and then rose to become head of state, ushering in the Estado Novo regime, initially very much aligned with Hitler and Mussolini but this aspect got phased out a bit in the regime's public presentation when WWII erupted and Portugal decided to stay neutral (many ppl will still bring this up as a point in Salzar's favour, though personally I think "yeah we're sitting this one out" is a morally indefensible stance to take on that particular conflict). Cultivated the image of an austere, frugal, religious man - his most famous quote is "if you knew how hard it is to lead, you'd be happier to obey".
He actually died a few years before the revolution - famously fell of a chair, which is awesome because any online interaction with a Portuguese facist can be concluded by just posting a chair. His successor, Marcelo Caetano, promised democratic reforms (primavera marcelista) but failed to follow through on that, ultimately leading to the Carnation Revolution (but that might be spoilers!).
The Portuguese Communist Party was for decades the only real resistance to Salazar. Very much aligned with the Soviet Union, as most communist parties in Europe were. They're still around, and a bigger party than you'd think, though their voter base is very much aged. I have...complicated feelings about them, they def fucked up on a lot of social issues for a long time and the fealty to Moscow was often indefensible. But anyone living in Portugal now owes them a debt, innumerable stories of bravery and intelligence in the face of an absolutely horrid regime.
The colonial war really kicked off in the early 60's, though before that Portugal had already lost colonies in India. But what's viewed as the Colonial War in Portuguese ppl's mindsets was the conflict against liberation movements in Mozambique, Guinea Bissau, Cape Verde and above all Angola. The many many lives lost in these were the defining factor in bringing about the revolution, so one could say without much exageration that Portugal also owes its freedom to the liberation movements of these African countries.
Relationship with the US is tricky...the US knew the main opponents of Salazar were the commies, and obv preferred a fascist to a communist. That being said around the same time the liberation movements sprung up there were motions from the US in the UN for Portugal to give up its colonies, which caused a lot of friction obv. This was of course not only due to postcolonial solidarity but also because the US wanted stronger access to those countries, Angola in particular being v rich in natural resources. Pretty much every liberation guerrila in any Portuguese colony was funded either by the CIA or the KGB, as these things go. Salazar reacted by trying to rebrand the colonies as not colonies at all but rather part of Portugal - thus the famous slogan "Portugal is not a small country".
― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 2 April 2023 16:13 (one year ago) link
thank you! this is the exact context I was hoping for! All of these things are alluded to or play a part in the plot of this series. ... In the previous episode I watched Salazar had had an "accident" (lol at the chair) and there was a new leader. The PICE, as represented in the show, are horrible and make the CIA people look humanitarian.
― sarahell, Sunday, 2 April 2023 16:17 (one year ago) link
also watched: Unpermitted Living - Spanish - organized crime patriarch with alzheimers - and issues of succession. The first season is pretty compelling, lots of melodrama, no one is 100% horrible except for Freddy the upstart Colombian drug dealer, and then the relatives that show up near the end who were living in Mexico ... it made me interested in perceptions/biases of European Spain vs. Latin American Spanish ... I started watching the 2nd season and it started out with a few ridiculous things happening, so I stopped watching it.
― sarahell, Sunday, 2 April 2023 16:34 (one year ago) link
The PIDE were the secret police, just basically the Gestapo of the regime. Very adept at torture, just the worst scum.
The only reason the Carnation Revolution had a death toll at all was the director of the PIDE saw a crowd outside and just fired into it at random.
― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 2 April 2023 17:37 (one year ago) link
Very adept at torture, just the worst scum.
so this show's version is a fairly accurate portrayal
― sarahell, Sunday, 2 April 2023 17:40 (one year ago) link
I’ve been kinda wiped out on the feel-bad organized crime shows, I stopped watching Gomorrah which is objectively well-done but the characters are such abhorrent ppl that I feel like I get the point. Got to that point w ZeroZeroZero too which looked amazing and had some great acting but it lost me by the end.
Mostly been sticking w/Engrenages, Stranger, and Entrapped.
― omar little, Sunday, 2 April 2023 17:59 (one year ago) link
I fucking loved Au Service de la France, but it's not on netflix anymore.
― Daniel_Rf, Sunday, 2 April 2023 18:18 (one year ago) link
I think I am 4 seasons behind on Engranages ...
― sarahell, Sunday, 2 April 2023 19:26 (one year ago) link
it isn't on Netflix but I am gonna use this as a catch-all for non-english language series on streaming services ... would love to hear other ilxors recommendations, reviews, etc .
I just finished watching all 7 years of A French Village (occupied France during and after WW2)-- it's really good imo and relevant to current events in terms of Occupation and tactics and repression as well as history stuff.
Features Thierry Godard and Audrey F from Engranages
― sarahell, Thursday, 16 May 2024 01:44 (four months ago) link
also has communists and communists having meetings! And passive-aggressively calling each other Comrade
― sarahell, Thursday, 16 May 2024 01:45 (four months ago) link
Currently watching Furies on Netflix — a dumb John Wick-esque show about a woman, "the Fury," who is in charge of enforcing the bylaws of the French underworld, murdering gangsters who step out of line in order to preserve the balance of power between the six big gangster families who run Paris, or whatever. Could just as easily have posted this in my international-violent-action-trash thread. It's only eight episodes but each one feels as long as a Bela Tarr movie.
― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Thursday, 16 May 2024 02:39 (four months ago) link
Danish prison drama Prisoner (with Sofie Gråbøl) on BBC iPlayer is excellent.
― bored by endless ecstasy (anagram), Thursday, 16 May 2024 07:08 (four months ago) link
Really enjoying Prisoner, thanks for the recommendation
― badg, Saturday, 25 May 2024 05:15 (four months ago) link
Started watching Hidden Theories (portugal) and I am somewhat confused about how banks work there
― sarahell, Sunday, 26 May 2024 16:46 (four months ago) link
as posted on the other streaming thread, I started watching the Korean ad agency drama AGENCY on Netflix, and it hits a similar sweet spot as my other recent Korean fave STRANGER while being completely different. Two episodes in and it's already extremely twisty with a couple thoroughly despicable male agency execs engaging in a Succession-type war against the female lead. She's similar to one of the two leads in Stranger (Cho Seung-woo as Si-mok) in that the trauma of her childhood has informed her superficial coldness and callousness, which leads to those around her misunderstanding and underestimating her. Absolutely soapy OTT kinda stuff, I love it so far.
― omar little, Thursday, 30 May 2024 19:10 (four months ago) link
Spymaster on iPlayer is familiar but not. it's another cold war spy drama set in the 70s with all the necessary retro fashions but this one is Romanian (and German and Russian and American)
― koogs, Sunday, 2 June 2024 10:22 (four months ago) link
(a joint Hungarian Romanian production based on the credits)
― koogs, Sunday, 2 June 2024 10:56 (four months ago) link
Parlement seems to be the Euro version of The Thick of It… anyone else seen it?
― sarahell, Thursday, 5 September 2024 14:55 (four weeks ago) link
No, never heard of it! downloading now..
― Humanitarian Pause (Tracer Hand), Thursday, 5 September 2024 17:46 (four weeks ago) link
Fourth and final series of My Brilliant Friend now streaming. Loving every minute of it so far, the new actresses are great and the script is as sharp as ever.
― bored by endless ecstasy (anagram), Tuesday, 24 September 2024 11:31 (one week ago) link