The series 1 finale of Doctor Who.

It was...



Fantastic.


Well, apart from one abominably cheesy line.

Love what they did with Rose's voice for the finale though, sounded amazing.


Edit: Urgh. Tried watching Mission Impossible. Can't do it. That whole business with the bible being some big clue drives me nuts because it just doesn't work.

Just watched The Lego Movie. Laugh out loud funny. I also love lego because I'm just a big kid

SPACESHIP!!!!... ...


Just watched Supernatural...The one with the Winchester brothers...

This series has had such a ropey journey across the UK channels...I think this is the fourth one it's been on...And we're 2 seasons back now...

Still...At least it's on...

Still waiting for Person Of Interest season 2 to start...*Sigh*...

Bloody Amazon Prime and its lack of "Free"-episodes-ness...

Me too. I love that show. We just watched the most recent episode last night. My comment was, "You know, now they can kill pretty much anyone..."

The only things I watch nowadays are the AVGN and Nostalgia Critic...

Republic Of Doyle...Final season...I sad... ...See...

Just got done watching Snake Eyes. It was pretty good, which I thought was worthy of note since it is also a Nicholas Cage film. It has a delightfully twisted plot, and good characterizations. I especially liked that Nick Cage's character pays the price for his actions at the end.

I also started watching AD Police: Protect and Serve, and finished the first disc yesterday. Now I am just waiting for Netflix to send the next one. It has been pretty good. It is old school anime, set in the Bubblegum Crisis universe. The artwork is dated by modern standards, and the plots not really astounding, but it is still entertaining nonetheless.

Thanks to AD Police, I also started rewatching Bubblegum Crisis as well. Again, it is dated, but I still love it. More than anything else, this series got me hooked on anime back in the late 80s/early 90s. In fact, it sort of spoiled me. It is driven by strong female characters, and features some really outstanding music. For a long time I expected all anime to have music of the same quality. Needless to say, I have learned different on that score! But one of the reasons I continue to love anime is that so much of it is female-driven, or at least features strong-female characters.

I keep wanting to watch Gundam Wing and Dragonball-Z again...Sadly, I keep getting into other things and never finish what I've started...*Shakes fist*...Damn meeee!!!... ...

Hey-ho...

We enjoyed Snake Eyes in the cinema...I do like a good Nicholas Cage film... ...

I am watching The Ultimate Guide To The Presidents. It is quite good. Each episode covers about 4 or 5 presidents, and gives about 8-10 minutes to each. Obviously it is not much time to go into great detail. Rather it gives an overview of what each was like personally, and what their accomplishments (or lack thereof) were. Finally, by presenting entire periods of 20 to 30 years in a single episode, they show how each administration 'fit' into the others around them. Some building on the work of previous presidents, some going in completely other directions. I find I like this quite a bit, as it gives a more comprehensive view of American history. It is also narrated by Bruce McGill, who I adore.

well The Walking Dead has returned after the mid-season break. Pretty exciting stuff. I'll try and hold in the spoilers

Blue Bloods is a fantastic series...

I came very late to it on the back of the Magnum thing...McWife went through them all on repeats...I'm just doing the new ones...

It really is brilliant though...

Mrs Acadian watches Blue Bloods and loves it. I catch snips of it over her shoulder now and then and tend to agree.

Excellent!...Such a well written - and therefore actor-proof, fortunately - show...



Like for many people - going by what reviewers over here tend to lead with - the thought of Scott Bakula appearing in a show brings me much joy...

Quantum Leap turned up in my teens and I absolutely loved it so much for the entire run...Sadly, I was completely outraged at the ending of it, and thought Bakula was massively shortchanged by it...Long story...Wiki it...But I absolutely hated it, and, as it turned out so did McWife, who simply recorded over the entire run of VHSses that she'd accumulated...That's how disgusted people were at the ending...

Aaamywho...

We followed him to Star Trek:Enterprise...Which he was the best thing in, and then shortchanged by...

Soooo, when we heard he'd gotten the lead in NCIS:New Orleans, we were so happy!...I mean, this is pretty much a guaranteed - going by the other two, at least - eight years of work, right there!!... ...

It starts this week over here and we are massively looking forward to it...

I mention this because I watched the two-part pilot again this morning...The one that was a two-part special in the original NCIS show...

I'm glad I did...Because - due to one thing and another - I hadn't remembered a damn thing from it... ...Well, except for some bits that turned up as it was going along...

Anyways, proper loved it, looking forward to seeing how it all turns out through the series...


And here's hoping that Scott Bakula gets a damned decent run with a decent ending this time!!... ...

The finale of series two of Doctor Who.

Bye Rose

I just watched Mr. Turner, a biopic by Mike Leigh about 19th-Century British painter J.M.W. Turner. I thought it was excellent. Timothy Spall did a wonderful job portraying Turner. The cinematography was wonderful. It captured Turner's colors remarkably well, I thought.

Like I actually know anything about cinematography. *rolls eyes*

Wyrd! We were just mentioning you in the Fallout thread...

Last night watched Automata. It was pretty good. Not really original anymore, but Antonio Banderas turns in an excellent performance about an ordinary insurance agent caught up in events over his head, and forced to make moral choices he really doesn't want to.

I also started watching North and South. I am about an hour into the 20 or so hour epic, and am liking it. My goddess Patrick Swayze was an Adonis back then!

Season 3 of House of Cards is coming next Friday!

Season 3 of Vikings! Odin's beard it's off to a good start.

I really need to actually get round to watching that show at some point.

I'm watching Tango and Cash.

Never seen it before.

That was a fun movie! Not one to take too seriously, but rather to just enjoy the ride. Granted, it has been about 20 years since I have seen it. I liked it back in the 80s at least!

It's a pretty good laugh. The whole "bad cop, worse cop" thing with the grenade was hilarious. That and the reference to Rambo

If you do, just give it a chance. I thought it was a bit slow to start in season 1 but stick with it and you won't be disappointed.

Also watching...Black Sails! Another show, along with Vikings, that I'd highly recommend.

I liked Black Sails. Check out Crossbones too, if you like Sails, you will probably like it too.

I watched Frozen again today. Such an adorable movie.

I am also watching Wildest Middle East on Netflix. So far it is one of the best of the Wildest series, which are mainly really well done. Lush landscapes + Paul McGann's voice = win.

OOooh, we had wondered about Black Sails but it hadn't got amazing reviews, so we stayed away...Hmmmm...Maybe we should watch ourselves and see... ...


As for us...

Hawaii Five-O...And NCIS:Los Angeles...


Five-O was excellent, always good to see Terry O'Quinn...But sadly, though NCIS:LA is close to being my fave show on tele, last night's was quite possibly the worst written and worst directed ever...At various points during it, every one of the characters acted or spoke completely different to how they usually do...It really was a terrible mess...

I cree... ...

I'll provide another endorsement of Black Sails. It is a show that one should watch from the beginning if one does not want to run the risk of being lost. That said it is well worth the watching.

Just recorded Citizenfour, the newly minted Oscar winner for best documentary, off of HBO. It is all about Edward Snowden… can't wait to give it a watch this weekend!

I gave up on Black Sails during the first season, but I’ll give it another try. I think I quit on it too soon. Right now I’m watching The Killing and liking it a lot. Also delighted that Vikings and Justified are back, yay! And Downton Abbey is my guilty viewing pleasure, lol. That’s pretty much it for Grits, other than things the kids save to watch with me (like Doctor Who).

I almost gave up on Black Sails around episode 2-3. A couple of the characters do some really stupid things, mainly Long John Silver and Max, and I am not impressed by idiots. But I stuck through those episodes, and things improved.

Mainly I liked all the other characters aside from those two. I loved Captain Flint, because he is not an ordinary pirate. He is a man with a vision, who intends to transform not only himself, but his crew, and the island that is their base. He is also willing to do anything to make his dream come true, including lie to his crew and murder them, if need be. He is a fantastic anti-hero.

His vision is not unreasonable either. In the real world, after things settled down after Queen Anne's War, the English sent a diplomat to the pirate's island and offered everyone there a full pardon if they would just stop being pirates. A lot of people took them up on the offer, and lived happily ever after. Some folks like Captain Vane took the pardon, kept pirating, were caught, and were released by the English anyway. The RL Captain Vane wasn't actually hanged until the second time the English caught him, because the Brits really wanted peace.

Eleanor makes an excellent partner in his scheme. She is a strong woman who share's Flint's vision, and is determined to make her own way in the world, out from under her father's shadow. Even Captain Vane, who is a blunt instrument, is a good character. He gives us an example of someone equally ruthless, but lacking the same vision as Flint and Eleanor. He's just an 'ordinary' pirate captain who will do whatever it takes to get ahead.

One thing I really liked is that while half of the characters are from Treasure Island, like Flint, Silver, and Billy Bones, the other half are real. Captian Vane, Jack Rackham, and Anne Bonney are all real life pirates who lived in that era. The island the show is set on - Nassau - is real too, and really was a pirate-republic. They also show some reality in how the pirates operate, with ship's articles, the captain being elected, extra compensation being guaranteed to crew members who are wounded, and so on.

Finished the third season of Doctor Who earlier. Not going to continue on from that point, didn't think much of the Donna series. Gonna start watching Star Trek: Deep Space Nine instead.

Rosa, excellent points, I definitely agree with you regarding Flint - The most recent episode had some really good character development for him.

It's always interesting to see a character's motivation and Flint's actually came as a surprise. Usually these things are predictable (Silver's 'i'm-just-using-everyone-else-to-save-my-own-skin' is a little boring) but many of the characters are quite complex.

Interested to see how Jack and Anne's story plays out. I know what happened to them in real life so it'll be fun to see how the show gets them there.

Just watched the finale of Parks & Recreation. Always sad when a good show has to end, and this one's been great.

Also watched - Girls und Panzer. I believe someone mentioned it here a little while back. Super duper fun! The tank stuff is all really well done, the national stereotypes...not so much. The title says it all really - just girls and tanks.

I just watched Gone Girl. Or at least I tried to. It was a good, tense thriller for about an hour and ten minutes. I really wasn't sure if Ben Affleck killed his wife or not. Then it suddenly veers off into WTF? land. I don't want to spoil it for others, so I won't go into details. Suffice to say, my sense of disbelief was completely ruined, and with it went the movie. I fast-forwarded to the ending, and was glad I saved myself the next hour and twenty minutes. My advice for those thinking of watching it is to rent Argo instead, or Good Will Hunting, or The Town.


That was me! I was thinking of Girls Und Panzer when you mentioned playing World of Tanks on another thread. There is a Girls Und Panzer mod with skins from the anime!

WoT/GuP all in one!? Well if that's not a reason to sell all of my belongings to buy a good PC I don't know what is!

Rewatched all 12 episodes again today - I can't get enough! Odd, considering I've never really watched any anime before. Apparently there's to be a film some time this summer.

RIP Spock

I heard about that today as well.

That is the end of an era, he will always be an icon in history.

Pirate Radio

Yes, I know it came out a long time ago, but that's what happens when your Netflix queue is mostly TV series....

Enjoyed it tremendously, most especially for the 1960's music, which is MY music when one gets right down to it.

I am finally getting into the new season of House of Cards. As before, I am loving it. One thing that is really good about this show is that the writers do not make things easy for the protagonist. I always hate when that happens - when things go too easily for the main character. Because it reduces them, and their accomplishments.

Frank Underwood in contrast does not just suffer from Murphy's Law, but Murphy's whole Congress. Even after he fights, and connives, and wheels and deals, threatens, and hammers things into finally working...everything still goes wrong. Usually in a most spectacular fashion. But through it all he perseveres and keeps on fighting, and comes out triumphant in the end. For the most part he is a pretty despicable character. And an example of how I can like a character even though I don't like the person they are. But his one good quality is that unshakable belief in himself, and refusal to let himself be defeated.

I love a storyline and character like that, and it really doesn't matter if they are "good" or "bad" if we don't have to come across them IRL, lol.

We binge watched "Bosch" on Amazon. Quite good- very close to the novels, especially in that it was more about the characters than the mystery.

"Justified" continues to hold us in the edge of our seats, as we wait to see what will happen next. (Knowing it is going to be gut-wrenching regardless).

And, in keeping with our "police show" addiction, we picked up 2 new (to us) U.K. series on Netflix-

"Foyle's War" and "Hinterland"

Both were quite superb, especially the scenery of "Hinterland"- which could be called "McBadgereland," as it is set in Wales.

Finally, we also have caught up on "Backstrom" (yes, another police show). The humor is off-beat enough to appeal to me, and then there are moments of seriousness that work even better because of being unexpected.

Still working my way through Doctor Who, from the marathon I started a few months ago. I try to watch one episode per day, or one every other day. I just wrapped up the last of Season Seven a few minutes ago. The Matt Smith years are definitely my least favorite of the new show. The writing overall just is not the same as it was in the Chris Ecclesiastes/David Tennant years. But there were still some good episodes in there. I really liked the two-parter with the dopplegangers, and just fan-girl squeed to see Ben Browder in the Wild West episode. The Lodger - with Craig as a sort-of companion was another good one, as was the sequel with him in the department store.

The Seventh Season was definitely the best of the Matt Smith years. Of them, the ones with Clara really shine the most. The first time we meet her as Souffle Girl in Asylum of the Daleks she really stood out. The Snowmen -with her again - was the only truly decent Matt Smith Christmas special. Once she comes in officially in the second half of the season things markedly improve. The Russian sub episode with her was wonderful, as was the haunted house one. Plus it helps having co-stars like David Warner, Liam Cunningham, Dougray Scott, and Jessica Raine (from Call the Midwife).

Now that I finished the last of the official Season Seven episodes, I have also reached our first sighting of John Hurt as The Doctor. Whovians know what that means. Next up, The Last Great Time War!

I was watching Arrow on Netflix and I finished that, it is a great show, but of course now I can't find season 3 anywhere and I want to know what happens! Season 3 is what is airing on tv now and I don't want to jump in halfway through so I want to start from the beginning and catch up.

I am the same way BB. I usually wait for shows/seasons to come out on dvd to watch them. That way I don't miss anything, and I can watch the episodes all in a row, two or three a day if I like.


In other news, Gallifrey Stands!

on my quest for good anime I've stumbled across "Puella Magi Madoka Magica". A short series (12 episodes) which follows some schoolgirls (as always) on their journeys as 'magical girls' who use mysterious magical abilities to fight creatures known as 'witches'.

It was pretty good, with quite a lot of background lore which they did a good job of explaining. The characters are decent, with a good amount of development for some of them. The animation was really good too, though the witches have a weird pop-art/paper cut-out style which clashes with the anime style at first but once you get used to it it's not so bad.


and thus my anime quest continues...

Have you tried any of the Ghost in the Shell series? I am now working my way through Arise, and am liking it quite a bit. It is a prequel, showing us how the gang all got together in the first place. Sadly it is only four, one hour long episodes (or mini-films), and Netflix only has three of them.

I haven't checked it out yet, but if it's any good I might give it a chance. I don't tend to go for things set in 'modern' times (or futuristic times, come to think of it) unless there's a decent fantasy/magic element.

I'm far too picky for someone who watches so many films and TV series.

Then GITS probably is not for you. It is a futuristic sci-fi series, with cyborg super-action and lots of hacking, along with questions of what is reality, free will, and the soul.

It is really old and dated now, but you might try Record of Lodoss War. It is a solid fantasy story, which on the surface is very stock and standard, but gets more interesting as you dig deeper into it. I especially liked how the good king and the evil king were once adventuring companions, much like the story's protagonist and his own companions. The animation is not especially good, with a lot of still frames that they slowly move the camera over, rather than true video. But the characters are well done, and so is the story.

Claymore is one you might like too. It is also in a fantasy setting, about a group of women called Claymores who have been given super powers in order to fight monsters known as Yoma. It turns out they get their powers by becoming part Yoma themselves, and they constantly have to fight the monster inside them, and sometimes lose. It is very graphically violent, but the violence serves a purpose beyond just the gore factor. Instead it emphasizes the dark world the Claymores live in, where the only thing they have to look forward to is either being killed by Yoma, or lose their internal battle, and becoming something much worse.

The 12 Kingdoms was a truly outstanding anime set in an alternate dimension with a fantasy setting. The main characters are not especially likeable at first. But that is because this is a character-driven story, and it is all about how they change and grow into better people than they were to begin with.

Moribito is a very good anime set in Medieval Asia, about a female mercenary and her friends, who are tasked with defending a prince from his father, who is going to have him sacrificed. It is another good character-driven story, where things are not entirely as they appear to be.

Le Chevalier D'Eon is a fictional tale about the real life person of the same name. It is not medieval, but set in Pre-Revolution France. It has knights and spies and supernatural monsters and a main character who can briefly take on the ghost of his dead sister, becoming her and gaining super powers to fight the monsters.

Thanks for the recommendations 'Rosa, you have superb taste.

just finished Claymore. Holy moley that was good. The characters were great, the story was great, the action was great. I want clayMORE. *ahem* so anyway yeah it was really good. Plus it featured Teresa of the Faint Smile. I'm sure I've heard that name somewhere before...

Went to see Big Hero 6 this morning...

Beautiful film, which I very much enjoyed on so many levels...

Plus, characters created by Man of Action...Who created Ben Ten and Generator Rex (apparently)...One of whose members is Joe Kelly, my all time fave comic writer...he does love a goodly overdone plot... ...