I added Dept Q to my Q on your recommendation! And I already had the Zep doc on it. Just no time to watch stuff at the moment. Though I did watch the 2 part Pee Wee Herman doc. I mean Paul Reubens doc. I liked it a lot but like Paul himself, the doc stayed at a remove.
Thanks Steve! I’m curious what you will think of Dept. Q. I did find myself fast forwarding on the torture scenes. I’m not great with that and while I might miss key clues I’ve decided it’s worth the regret! The Pee Wee doc has come up on my queue and I haven’t yet started it but can’t say I’m not tempted. Sounds like there’s a level of detachment which might leave me feeling like I did after i used to eat fast food. Full and yet empty?
I wouldn't say the doc is like fast food; it's just that Reubens is intentionally elusive and snarky in some of his answers, and was both trying to control and sabotage the doc while it was being made. This is explained in the doc, which is fascinating, though the pacing of it all felt both slow and hurried at times. It stayed with me for a while afterwards, which is a big recommendation.
Beth, I share a similar ambivalence about Led Zeppelin. So I'm adding this doc to my list! My kids like the band so I think I could even parlay this into a family watch. Thank you!
Alyson, I think as a family watch it’s an excellent idea. Because my husband was more into the band and me, a little less, it was nice to hear some of his thoughts and ask questions during the doc and stop and go, Unrelated, I’m the last person you want to watch stuff with at home. I ask questions all the time. Trying to build awareness and restrain myself.
My family all have different levels of tolerance for during-movie talk. Makes for interesting group viewings! But maybe this doc is a good one for talking during since so many of the songs are well-known, we may not miss something if someone talks during a performance! 😂
LOVED Dept Q and binged it pretty quickly. You definitely nailed the reasons why I love shows like this—it’s my comfort genre, but not every show pulls it off this well. I kept telling Bryan that Merck had David Tennant in Broadchurch vibes. I love that there was humor and lightness throughout the dark and twisty crime story, and that the victim came across as an unlikable person most of the time.
Thanks Danyel ❤️❤️ Glad you enjoyed the illustrations. I had so much fun with it! I’ve watched a few more episodes of Stick. I think the first was my favorite but it’s sticking (pun intended)
Looking forward to getting into Dept Q as I loved the Danish films. I’ll probably get to the Led Zeppelin doc at some point as I love a good music documentary. I’ve read generally good things about Stick so will probably give it “a shot”.
Currently wrapping up season 2 of The Last of Us after finishing up Mobland, which we thought was excellent.
Mark - Thx for sharing. I wanted to watch the second episode of "Stick" right after but my daughter and husband weren't having it. We must pace ourselves and all. (boo!)
I watched "The Last of Us" season 2. I miss Joel. It's a good show but it used to be great.
I don't have Paramount (one of the few streamers I don't) but I've heard from others who enjoy "Mobland."
Love these graphic visuals with the reviews! My mom’s a huge zeppelin fan so I grew up with hearing a lot of their popular songs and love a good music doc so I’ll have to check it out.
Since you mention Stick and Scott Frank, his interview on Marc Maron is very interesting and fun. I didn’t realize he wrote so many of my favorite movies, like Dead Again and Out of Sight. He also created Monsieur Spade!
Ooh, I love this bit of trivia. Thank you for sharing. I'm excited to see Maron on TV. He's the curmudgeonly sidekick friend here, but Maron was a spectacular show too. I liked Monsieur Spade. I saw it's on Netflix now, too.
I watched the first episode of Monsieur Spade but felt it ended on kind of a fantastical note that threatened what seemed like a great premise. What are your thoughts on that? It kind of took me out of the show. Should I go back to it?
Ok, lol, I had to fast-forward past all the claustrophobic hyperbaric chamber scenes to keep from needing to blow into a bag. But I LOVE Matthew Goode and I also ended up absurdly loving Akram--the quiet killer: "Never interrupt me when I am praying." Right after I finished the series, one of our board members left me a hysterical voice memo, "Hello, this Akram... Never Interrupt me..." 😂 And she is so silly but also brilliant that I hope they bring this series back for a second season to further develop the ensemble.
Thx for sharing. I can’t do prolonged torture scenes so for that I was out on the hyperbaric chamber. Akram was a wonderful character. One of his comments had left a lasting impression on me and it’s when he explains to Matthew Goode’s character the difference between being in control of your anger and having it control you. Seemed very profound. I really love Kelly MacDonald (and her chem with Goode) but the weird friends/potentially growing into lovers tension of the therapist-patient relationship was a bit ick.
We're about halfway through Dept Q and enjoying it -- my wife's more of a Scandi noir connoisseur so her standards are higher. I really like Akram and some ways wish he was the main character more than Morck.
Yes, I wondered why we had to hear Led Zep’s “Communication Breakdown” twice (even the song’s title is kind of annoying). I think they wanted to show the affectless reaction by an English audience and then the same song played to an enthusiastic American audience.
And if anyone reading is looking forward to hearing the great Led Zep songs like “The Battle of Evermore” (with Sandy Denny), “Misty Mountain Hop” or “Going to California,” those are not covered since they’re on Led Zep IV, and this doc only goes through II (the doc _is_ called “Becoming”).
The first half is quite interesting, though, showing all that session work the various members did for just about everybody you can think of in the 60s. “Goldfinger”? “To Sir With Love”? Who knew?
But yeah, when you watch that first performance in Sweden of the band, still called the Yardbirds, you can see how confident they are already.
Thanks for your perspective Frank. Agreed, there was a polish and confidence with the band, that came from time spent being working artists (studio musicians for Page and Jones) and starving musicians (for at least Plant, when he talks about being homeless). They hit it big when they were all in their early 20s, which is wild. I also really enjoyed hearing about how Jones would see what Bonham was doing with the drums (his level of invention) and play off that. There's a real desire to showcase everyone's talents among all the band's members and ego minimized (at least through its depiction in the doc and earned maturity of band) and I'm not sure you find that in every band or that it's talked about
So funny! We just binged and finished Dept Q! We had to watch a Seinfeld episode after so we wouldn’t go to bed with thoughts of hyperbaric chambers.
Will def watch the Zeppelin documentary.
Love the research and stories you find.
Thanks! I had to fast forward all the hyperbaric chamber scenes. No thank you!
“Slightly lesso but still good” 🤣
Looking forward to watching Dept Q! Gillian has told me today that she has a remote family connection to one of the actors.
Ok, now I must know WHO
Ok Beth! It’s DC Clark? I am about to start and very keen to see - it’s my godparents’ grandson 😊 And love that it’s set in Edinburgh too
SO COOL!!! Ok, go watch and write about it ;)
I added Dept Q to my Q on your recommendation! And I already had the Zep doc on it. Just no time to watch stuff at the moment. Though I did watch the 2 part Pee Wee Herman doc. I mean Paul Reubens doc. I liked it a lot but like Paul himself, the doc stayed at a remove.
Thanks Steve! I’m curious what you will think of Dept. Q. I did find myself fast forwarding on the torture scenes. I’m not great with that and while I might miss key clues I’ve decided it’s worth the regret! The Pee Wee doc has come up on my queue and I haven’t yet started it but can’t say I’m not tempted. Sounds like there’s a level of detachment which might leave me feeling like I did after i used to eat fast food. Full and yet empty?
I wouldn't say the doc is like fast food; it's just that Reubens is intentionally elusive and snarky in some of his answers, and was both trying to control and sabotage the doc while it was being made. This is explained in the doc, which is fascinating, though the pacing of it all felt both slow and hurried at times. It stayed with me for a while afterwards, which is a big recommendation.
Beth, I share a similar ambivalence about Led Zeppelin. So I'm adding this doc to my list! My kids like the band so I think I could even parlay this into a family watch. Thank you!
Alyson, I think as a family watch it’s an excellent idea. Because my husband was more into the band and me, a little less, it was nice to hear some of his thoughts and ask questions during the doc and stop and go, Unrelated, I’m the last person you want to watch stuff with at home. I ask questions all the time. Trying to build awareness and restrain myself.
My family all have different levels of tolerance for during-movie talk. Makes for interesting group viewings! But maybe this doc is a good one for talking during since so many of the songs are well-known, we may not miss something if someone talks during a performance! 😂
LOVED Dept Q and binged it pretty quickly. You definitely nailed the reasons why I love shows like this—it’s my comfort genre, but not every show pulls it off this well. I kept telling Bryan that Merck had David Tennant in Broadchurch vibes. I love that there was humor and lightness throughout the dark and twisty crime story, and that the victim came across as an unlikable person most of the time.
in love w the illos! Dept Q was awesome. Just started Stick.
Thanks Danyel ❤️❤️ Glad you enjoyed the illustrations. I had so much fun with it! I’ve watched a few more episodes of Stick. I think the first was my favorite but it’s sticking (pun intended)
I may be a recent Nordic Noir convert, but not sure yet. You gave me a reason to give Dept Q a try.
Absolutely love your infographics!!
Thanks Ingrid :)
Looking forward to getting into Dept Q as I loved the Danish films. I’ll probably get to the Led Zeppelin doc at some point as I love a good music documentary. I’ve read generally good things about Stick so will probably give it “a shot”.
Currently wrapping up season 2 of The Last of Us after finishing up Mobland, which we thought was excellent.
Mark - Thx for sharing. I wanted to watch the second episode of "Stick" right after but my daughter and husband weren't having it. We must pace ourselves and all. (boo!)
I watched "The Last of Us" season 2. I miss Joel. It's a good show but it used to be great.
I don't have Paramount (one of the few streamers I don't) but I've heard from others who enjoy "Mobland."
Love these graphic visuals with the reviews! My mom’s a huge zeppelin fan so I grew up with hearing a lot of their popular songs and love a good music doc so I’ll have to check it out.
Thx Valerie!Let me know what your mom thinks :)
Dept. Q checks a lot of boxes for me per your description. Will give it a try.
Since you mention Stick and Scott Frank, his interview on Marc Maron is very interesting and fun. I didn’t realize he wrote so many of my favorite movies, like Dead Again and Out of Sight. He also created Monsieur Spade!
Ooh, I love this bit of trivia. Thank you for sharing. I'm excited to see Maron on TV. He's the curmudgeonly sidekick friend here, but Maron was a spectacular show too. I liked Monsieur Spade. I saw it's on Netflix now, too.
I recall really liking Dead Again and thinking Branagh and Thompson’s American accents were quite convincing.
But I would say Dashiell Hammett “created” Spade.
THE SHOW. He created THE SHOW. Thanks for the mansplanation
I watched the first episode of Monsieur Spade but felt it ended on kind of a fantastical note that threatened what seemed like a great premise. What are your thoughts on that? It kind of took me out of the show. Should I go back to it?
Ok, lol, I had to fast-forward past all the claustrophobic hyperbaric chamber scenes to keep from needing to blow into a bag. But I LOVE Matthew Goode and I also ended up absurdly loving Akram--the quiet killer: "Never interrupt me when I am praying." Right after I finished the series, one of our board members left me a hysterical voice memo, "Hello, this Akram... Never Interrupt me..." 😂 And she is so silly but also brilliant that I hope they bring this series back for a second season to further develop the ensemble.
Thx for sharing. I can’t do prolonged torture scenes so for that I was out on the hyperbaric chamber. Akram was a wonderful character. One of his comments had left a lasting impression on me and it’s when he explains to Matthew Goode’s character the difference between being in control of your anger and having it control you. Seemed very profound. I really love Kelly MacDonald (and her chem with Goode) but the weird friends/potentially growing into lovers tension of the therapist-patient relationship was a bit ick.
I am not much of a Led Zeppelin person, so these two items may be common knowledge already, but two related things I found interesting.
1) An article about their tendency to steal songs: https://musicinfluence.substack.com/p/9-songs-led-zeppelin-stole
2) This was a very cool cover of "Going to California" -- https://www.aptnnews.ca/national-news/as-her-pop-covers-album-inuktitut-sails-to-success-elisapie-finds-a-renewed-voice/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLqvn-ykvmY
We're about halfway through Dept Q and enjoying it -- my wife's more of a Scandi noir connoisseur so her standards are higher. I really like Akram and some ways wish he was the main character more than Morck.
I think Akram works well as the "straight guy" type character to Morck's zany and at time volatile unpredictability
Yes, I wondered why we had to hear Led Zep’s “Communication Breakdown” twice (even the song’s title is kind of annoying). I think they wanted to show the affectless reaction by an English audience and then the same song played to an enthusiastic American audience.
And if anyone reading is looking forward to hearing the great Led Zep songs like “The Battle of Evermore” (with Sandy Denny), “Misty Mountain Hop” or “Going to California,” those are not covered since they’re on Led Zep IV, and this doc only goes through II (the doc _is_ called “Becoming”).
The first half is quite interesting, though, showing all that session work the various members did for just about everybody you can think of in the 60s. “Goldfinger”? “To Sir With Love”? Who knew?
But yeah, when you watch that first performance in Sweden of the band, still called the Yardbirds, you can see how confident they are already.
Thanks for your perspective Frank. Agreed, there was a polish and confidence with the band, that came from time spent being working artists (studio musicians for Page and Jones) and starving musicians (for at least Plant, when he talks about being homeless). They hit it big when they were all in their early 20s, which is wild. I also really enjoyed hearing about how Jones would see what Bonham was doing with the drums (his level of invention) and play off that. There's a real desire to showcase everyone's talents among all the band's members and ego minimized (at least through its depiction in the doc and earned maturity of band) and I'm not sure you find that in every band or that it's talked about