Just for the heck of it, because I've got the day off today and I'm sitting in a cafe right now taking advantage of the relatively clement weather and the sun, but I've gotta write about *something* for it to qualify as a "cafe writing" break, so I guess TV is it.
I don't know about anyone else, but TABB (Time After Breaking Bad) has been a real bitch. That series was so consistently excellent that it really gave you something to look forward to every week. About the only mainstream shows that have managed to fill that "I'll watch them every week no matter what" void are "Justified," "True Detective," "Person Of Interest," and "Lost Girl." I still give "Agents Of Shield" a try from time to time, hoping it will get better, but so far it hasn't. Sigh. Among new shows that I've stumbled upon, I'm giving a UK series called "The Musketeers" a shot, but I doubt I'll continue. I'm also watching a series about pirates called "Black Sails." This one I may continue watching. It's a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson's "Treasure Island," showing the origins of Captain Flint and John Silver. Think the period authenticity, violence, sex, nudity, good actors, and production values that "Spartacus" brought to gladiators, only done with pirates. Sexy, fun, and so far replete with good performances from the actors. Go figure. What I'll be delving into soon, however, is a new set of great TV from Scandinavia and other places around the world uploaded by a guy who has become one of my "trusted resources" in the pirate 'verse. I'll download anything he puts up, because so far *everything* he's ever posted has been great. He turned me on to the original "The Killing" and "Borgen" and "Bron-Broen." So when he uploads a batch of new stuff, at this point I just download it and look forward to watching it. The first of these new potential gems I'll watch later today is from Wales, and all dialog was actually filmed twice, because they had to do it first in Welsh, then in English. It's called "Hinterlands" and I've only seen the first few minutes of it, but so far it'll be watchable just for the cinematography alone. There's the full set of "Bron-Broen 2" with BBC subtitles, of course, which I'll watch again to compare it with the fan-subbed version I had earlier. There's a well-reviewed series from Israel called "Prisoners Of War (Hatufim)" that I look forward to, and a series of mini-series specials called "Arne Dahl." Not to mention a few movies I'd never heard of, but will watch simply because he uploaded them. When you find someone with excellent taste, you've really gotta appreciate that. Anyone out there watching anything interesting?
