Mrs. ricepad and I started watching “The Brothers Sun” last night. There are three things that I enjoy immensely about it. First, the pilot opens with a cooking scene, which leads to the second: a well choreographed fight scene. Third, I love the fact that the cast is absolutely laden with Asian talent that doesn’t rely on the same pool of a dozen or so actors. I mean, I love James Hong (especially in the Alan Arkin version of “The In-Laws”), but it’s well past time for some fresh faces, and “The Brothers Sun” has them in spades.
It does tend to be violent, and a few scenes that are gory - it’s a gangster-driven plotline, after all - but it’s also heavily interlaced with comedic touches, including Charles’s growing obsession with churros. The only downside to it thus far is that there are only eight episodes, which at our current pace, means just two more mini-binges.
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Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
82
I also havent got access but have read all the books. Jackson Lamb is my hero and my fashion and lifestyle guru.
I used to watch Honeymooners on the UHF station (WFLD, 32, Chicago) before bed. The same place I went for after school reruns of Three Stooges and Our Gang/Little Rascals. Also the same station that gave me Svengoolie Sunday afternoons as my go-to cheesy horror movie host.
All of which is to say, I had a pretty thorough grounding in early television and film for someone who wasn’t there for it.
I was shocked the first time I saw an episode and immediately asked my dad how they got away with copying the Flintstones. After correcting my assumptions, I was just floored. The Honeymooners might as well have been the ur-sitcom. It’s all there. Limited camera, locked locations, core cast with guest stars. Almost everything we’ve laughed at on the tube in the last century can find Gleason, Carney, Meadows and Randolph in their DNA.
RIP, Trixie. I hope Ed finally smells better. You were a funny, funny lady.
The series is excellent, not least because it stars my future husband Gary Oldman.
2 Likes
Harters
(John Hartley - a culinary patriot, cooking and eating in northwest England)
86
I’ve just finished binge-watching Series 2 of Vigil. Detective Chief Inspector Amy and her life and police partner, the heavily pregnant Detective Inspector Kirsten investigate murder and intrigue in a Royal Air Force unit, operating in a Middle Eastern country.
The Last Thing Mary Saw, a spooky Shudder production set in the 19th century that weaves together lesbianism, witchcraft, and religious “conversion therapy” into a moody, engaging story. It also stars one of the 10,000,000 Culkin siblings
Watched “Lift” as it has some actors I like including Jean Reno and Kevin Hart. But it wasn’t as I expected. Too many characters and events stuffed in to it, and they don’t seem to exactly belong together. It looked like a hybrid between The Italian Job and several other high tech movies. I wonder why Jean Reno decided to join that movie.
You might like it if you like action movies that don’t require too much of a logical background to the events. I can discuss it at length but don’t want to spoil it, so …
Those are fun. I rewatched “The Italian Job” (recent version) and a few others over the past weeks when I wanted something light that I didn’t have to think too much about. The Tourist was good (and fluffy) too. Inside Man also, less fluffy though.
I loved that so much. Of course, what stayed with me was John Turturro flinging a bunch of cat toys at the cat he’s violently allergic to, and then quickly shutting the door between it and him.
