November TV shows
Nov. 30th, 2022 07:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolorosa_12This month has been a bumper one for TV viewing, with some really excellent shows in a variety of genres. And, given the shows I've got on the go currently, this looks set to continue in December. The shows we finished this month are as follows:
Trøm, a Scandi noir set in the Faroe islands, partially in Faroese. The mystery centres on the murder of a young anti-whaling activist, and draws heavily on local tensions between industry and activists, as well as on tensions within and between various families. It's a pretty conventional crime drama, and the characters verge on stock characters — the appeal here is the setting and the language, rather than anything groundbreaking in terms of the story.
Industry, a drama which Matthias describes as a blend between Skins and Billions: beautiful young people doing terrible things as they attempt to succeed in London's financial services industry. There's constant backstabbing and double crossing, everyone uses each other, and everyone handles eye-watering amounts of money while slowly dying inside. This is not a show to watch if you want a story about good and kind-hearted people.
Babylon Berlin, the fourth season of an amazing German noir show set in the dying years of the Weimar Republic. This is at this point a candidate for my show of the year, and I was so impressed by the latest season that I wrote a longer review over at![[wordpress.com profile]](https://p.dreamwidth.org/1225b00cee13/-/s.wordpress.org/about/images/wpmini-blue.png)
dolorosa12, my longform reviews blog.
Trainwreck, a three-part documentary on the ill-fated Woodstock '99 festival. I was dimly aware of the existence of the festival after the fact, but although I was a teenager in 1999, I had no idea of its existence at the time it was happening. The story of the festival is a familiar mixture of ineptitude, hubris, arrogance, and sheer destructive selfishness and — much like Dashcon or Fyre Festival — the sort of slow-motion car crash you watch in horror from between your fingers.
Andor, the latest Disney+ Star Wars show, impressed me immensely. It's an impeccably cast, impeccably shot, impeccably written blend of spy thriller and political drama — the story of how small actions of individuals and groups can both inadvertently and deliberately create an anti-fascist resistance movement, while at the same time showing how slowly and easily authoritarian oppression can take hold and worm its way into everything until the point that it's impossible to stop without violent, organised resistance. I thought it was fantastic.
The English is a western set in the late 19th century, in which an English woman mourning the death of her son and a Native tracker finished with an adult lifetime spent as a tracker for the US army join forces on their respective revenge quests, which end up being interwoven. What it reminded me most of was, weirdly, medieval chivalric literature, especially Malory — the characters wander through landscapes charged with meaning, encountering a variety of strange figures (many of whom pop in and out of the story) who require their help, or bring violence to them. The show was gorgeous to look at, made some clever points (mainly — as is to be expected — about colonisation), and had a deep sense of grief and melancholy.
And those are the shows I've completed this month.
Trøm, a Scandi noir set in the Faroe islands, partially in Faroese. The mystery centres on the murder of a young anti-whaling activist, and draws heavily on local tensions between industry and activists, as well as on tensions within and between various families. It's a pretty conventional crime drama, and the characters verge on stock characters — the appeal here is the setting and the language, rather than anything groundbreaking in terms of the story.
Industry, a drama which Matthias describes as a blend between Skins and Billions: beautiful young people doing terrible things as they attempt to succeed in London's financial services industry. There's constant backstabbing and double crossing, everyone uses each other, and everyone handles eye-watering amounts of money while slowly dying inside. This is not a show to watch if you want a story about good and kind-hearted people.
Babylon Berlin, the fourth season of an amazing German noir show set in the dying years of the Weimar Republic. This is at this point a candidate for my show of the year, and I was so impressed by the latest season that I wrote a longer review over at
dolorosa12, my longform reviews blog.Trainwreck, a three-part documentary on the ill-fated Woodstock '99 festival. I was dimly aware of the existence of the festival after the fact, but although I was a teenager in 1999, I had no idea of its existence at the time it was happening. The story of the festival is a familiar mixture of ineptitude, hubris, arrogance, and sheer destructive selfishness and — much like Dashcon or Fyre Festival — the sort of slow-motion car crash you watch in horror from between your fingers.
Andor, the latest Disney+ Star Wars show, impressed me immensely. It's an impeccably cast, impeccably shot, impeccably written blend of spy thriller and political drama — the story of how small actions of individuals and groups can both inadvertently and deliberately create an anti-fascist resistance movement, while at the same time showing how slowly and easily authoritarian oppression can take hold and worm its way into everything until the point that it's impossible to stop without violent, organised resistance. I thought it was fantastic.
The English is a western set in the late 19th century, in which an English woman mourning the death of her son and a Native tracker finished with an adult lifetime spent as a tracker for the US army join forces on their respective revenge quests, which end up being interwoven. What it reminded me most of was, weirdly, medieval chivalric literature, especially Malory — the characters wander through landscapes charged with meaning, encountering a variety of strange figures (many of whom pop in and out of the story) who require their help, or bring violence to them. The show was gorgeous to look at, made some clever points (mainly — as is to be expected — about colonisation), and had a deep sense of grief and melancholy.
And those are the shows I've completed this month.
no subject
Date: 2022-11-30 07:53 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 04:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 07:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-11-30 08:08 pm (UTC)Trøm sounds totally right up my street because of the setting and the language.
You think Andor could be enjoyed by someone who has seen the Star Wars films but none of the sequels and Disney shows and is not a big fan of the franchise? Because you totally had me at spy thriller and political drama.
The English and Babylon Berlin sound interesting too.
Who am I kidding, I'll never have the time (to myself) to watch this much TV. But they'll go on a list...thanks anyway.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 04:28 pm (UTC)To be fair, it's easy to have a lot of time to watch TV when you have no kids, no local friends, and are an immigrant so have no family living in the same country. So I'm not sure it's such a good sign that I'm able to watch TV in such volumes...
no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 07:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-11-30 08:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 04:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-11-30 09:45 pm (UTC)I find this is the appeal for me for most of the Scandi noir on BBC4 these days.
I've heard many good things about Babylon Berlin, that and the English are going on my to watch list.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 04:31 pm (UTC)I'm glad to hear you like the sound of some of the other stuff I've been watching.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 06:16 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 12:06 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 04:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 12:50 am (UTC)Yes, yes! It was so moving and so well-done.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 04:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 01:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 04:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 02:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 04:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 06:55 am (UTC)Intrigued by your review for Babylon Berlin, which isn't a show I've heard much about. Thanks for the rec!
no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 04:36 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 11:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 04:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 05:42 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 01:29 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-01 04:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-02 03:58 am (UTC)=^..^=~
no subject
Date: 2022-12-02 06:43 pm (UTC)I watched Trøm on the BBC and Babylon Berlin through NOW, but I believe the latter is available through Netflix in some countries so that might work for you. I'm not sure where Trøm is streaming outside the UK.
no subject
Date: 2022-12-03 05:23 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-02 02:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-02 06:45 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-12-02 08:44 pm (UTC)