Since there’s an incredible variety of media available to us these days it’s easy to miss great stuff. And since there’s also an incredible variety of people on the internet it’s a given that we’ll all have different experiences.
So what media are you consuming? Would you recommend it? How did you discover it? Anything else we should all be aware of???
Kicking things off…
I’m currently watching the final season of The Shield. I loved The Wire and was hunting for another cop drama that would be as good, and The Shield seemed like a good option. To start with it seemed very different and I was unsure that I’d like it, but after a bit of adjustment following the adventures of a team of semi-corrupt cops and their problems as things invariably go pear shaped has become very addictive.
I’m reading Blood, Sweat and Pixels by Jason Schreier. It documents the creation process, warts and all, of several very well known games. I’m about halfway through and the Stardew Valley chapter and Diablo 3 chapter have been very interesting. (I actually ended up starting this after reading the Mass Effect books by Drew Karpyshyn, which I thought would be rubbish but were actually pretty good accompaniments to the first three games…in a pulpy kind of way).
I’m listening to…well, I recently watched the Black Metal documentary Dying of the Light, so I’m currently enjoying some old classics. Currently going through the Dark Throne discography.
American Assasin: Eh, revenge/mystery/intrigue spy story
Kingsman: The Golden Circle: Ok, not as good as the first
The Foreigner: Not bad, Jackie Chan shows some emotional range for about 5 seconds and then it becomes a revenge story with a mixture of Taken, McGuyver and Jackie Chan doing Jackie Chan things
Reading: The Disaster Artist The book which has just been made into a movie which is about making the movie The Room, known as the Citizen Kane of bad movies. If you don’t know the room you need to watch it before you read the book but its a super interesting read as this terrible movie was written, directed and acted by a guy who would never reveal his age, where he was originally from or where he got the $6 mil to make the movie and to top it all of he had never directed before so it chronicles much of the frustration on set which eventually made most of the crew quit. I don’t know how to explain it but I was intrigued by the movie and then when i heard snippets of the story behind it I had to see what happened in the background.
Listening:
Haven’t found anything recently so I am still on the Glass Animals train
That actually reminds me. I also saw Atomic Blonde last night (Charlize Theron, James McAvoy). Cold war spy thriller, think Bond meets Wick. Sadly I wasn’t that impressed.
(Excellent realistic-ish fight scenes though, albeit less comic book than John Wick. Plot wasn’t so good in my view.)
Home Again Recee Witherspoon drama about a woman recently divorced and just moved across the country back to LA where she ends up with 3 young guys living in her guest house. I’ve got about half an hour to go it’s nice so far.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle Watched last night and my thoughts are the same as @PeteMcc not as good as the first one, very paint by numbers, though I thought Elton John just wandering around telling people to fuck off was probably the high light.
The Originals Season 4 I think it’s a good thing it’s ending this season, starting to get stale.
reading
Steve/Bucky fic still, been settled on them for more than a year now, I wasn’t even interested in Captain America, how did this happen.
The Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski The first book The Witcher series is based off. I actually haven’t picked this up in ages, I have less than a fifth remaining, Geralt has just met Yennefer (OTP) for the first time but I don’t want to finish it because then it will be over…
I’ve been playing Flogging Mollys “Life is Good” album way too much these last 2 months.
Such a good album!
As far as watching goes I’ve just been watching almost all airing anime like always. For the most part it makes me want to die but there are some good shows this season too.
I have been listening to everything Outkast and Red Hot Chili Peppers.
I’ve been attempting to trudge through the Dark Tower book 6 “Song of Susannah.” (I really disliked the 5th book and it put a bad taste in my mouth).
As for viewing pleasure, it has honestly been nothing. I’ve been watching 2 and 3 year old videos on YouTube, waiting for Netflix to add something that wasn’t greenlit before being pitched.
reading…?
i thought that foul sorcery was a long lost art today…
i’m not reading much (can never seem to get the time or “mood” to distract or immerse myself in a book these days unfortunately), last i read was a re-read of a “local guy”'s book called “Jord i hovedet”(dirt/soil in the head), that i love because it’s just silly
finished catching up and watching all Mr. Robot (finally)… and… i … i don’t know… it’s good… -real good, but i also think i might need to be on some meds at times the direction they “might” try to take this lol
for music, well, since i’ve been playing a shameful amount of GD i’ve been listening a lot to Jonathan Young and Caleb Hynes covers on repeat, because some of those songs just seem to go well with my mood/brain when playing
otherwise, my music is all over the place, and i rarely know what i’m listening to anyway lol
oh, and got around to finally watching War for the Planet of the Apes, great movie, even if it seems they might be “pushing it” a bit plot-wise at times.
-much better than Kingsman 2 for sure… damn and i really liked the first one… oh well.
Watching: Star Trek, South Park and The Simpsons.
Reading: Just finished Asimov’s Foundation trilogy and now I’m reading Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles.
Watching: Lately, I’ve mostly been re-watching some of my favorite Black Mirror episodes (while waiting for the new season to appear on Netflix), along with some snooty British dramas on Amazon Prime, and the occasional old episode of Star Trek TNG.
Listening: I’ve been listening to a lot of Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros lately. A few weeks ago, I listened to every Beatles album, starting with Revolver (the best one ), which is something I feel compelled to do every few years.
Reading: Do audiobooks count? These days, I have more time to listen to books, while doing other things, than to actually sit down and read. I think the last book I read was Fresh Blends - which came with the Blendtec blender I purchased. The book I am currently listening to is something or other on mindfulness (but I’m usually distracted while listening )
Still playing this ? Did you get the recently released Ashes of Malmouth expansion?
Yes. Because the audiobooks of The Martian and All You Need Is Kill are awesome. Podcasts can also count. That being the case Watch Out For Fireballs and Retronauts are both well worth your time.
Watching - The Irregular at Magic High School. The story is a bit cliche at times, but it has really nice animation and voice acting.
Reading - The Swords of Night and Day by David Gemmell, a fantasy novel as part of his Drenai series. Highly recommend Gemmell for fantasy lovers.
Listening - Fear Factory - Demanufacture. Back when metal was metal
Not sure which category this would go into, but when I am out for a stroll, I have been working on The Witcher audio books, which are magnificent. The stories expand the universe the games are set in, and Peter Kenny’s readings are top notch.
I have a bunch of public playlists on Spotify that I constantly update, but for a monthly updated, “best-of-the-month” type playlist, here’s my “Monthly Jamz” playlist.
Every month I stock it with an hour of the best music from the past month. Give it a try! I’m into some edm, hip-hop, and alt indie stuff.
Yo Asimov is some good sci-fi. Never read the foundation trilogy, but I have read a few of his other books, and the worlds he imagines are well fleshed out and interesting.
Is this the book Edge of Tomorrow was based on?
Not sure if I am missing a joke about “The Wall” thing but yes, Greg Sistero (the guy who played Mark in The Room) wrote the book about how he was friends with Tommy before the film, how the film came about and the filming process. It has some particularly funny insights into why they shot with a green screen rooftop rather than using a real one, the ordeal in getting a good take for the famous “Oh Hai Mark” and the flowershop scenes and many other crazy things Wisseau did (including getting a toilet with no door and only a curtain blocking it plumbed into the set that only he could use despite there being a perfectly fine toilet already on the set a few meters away) .
The movie (also called The Disaster Artist) came out just a few weeks ago (or is just about to come out???) and stars James Franco, Dave Franco, Seth Rogen, Josh Hutcherson, Alison Brie and other well known actors, I haven’t seen it yet but reviews are positive. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3521126/
EDITING: because i am tired and realised i can put it all in one post and because my grammar is atrocious
)
? Did you get the recently released 
