We didn't have a good night for viewing last night.

Having finished The Irishman, which was excellent, I zapped around a bit and found The Windsors which is a send up of the Royal family with Harry Enfield as Prince Charles...

Ten minutes of liberal use of the F word and appalling dialogue was enough to know that it was utter shite. I love satire when it's done well, The Thick Of It being a prime example, but this was just cringeworthy.

Then, having seen a recommendation here for The End Of The F***ing World, we gave it a shot, but admitted defeat by the second episode. Contrived, hateful characters, trite Americanisation - you don't get the impression of the location since it could be any-town anywhere, yet the British actors were reading a script prepared for an American audience. British kids don't say 'Hey!' when they greet someone and then receive the reciprocal 'Hey!' in return, amongst other things. Sex Education did that too and it's a transparently nauseating crossover, pandering to Hollywood and the Americam audience.

Alex Lawther plays the wannabee psychopath. He's an unusual actor with idiosyncrasies that he carries over from part to part and you often think he's in a trance, as in the film Old Boys, from last year.

The story has been done before in Harold and Maude, which I also found distasteful, but oddly enough, more enjoyable.

It's strange, because all the reviews of both of these, put us in the 5% who didn't enjoy them and I'm wondering what's happened to British film and TV.

Here's a BBC report on the Wilson/MI5 story which, disappointingly, is still inconclusive.

The Crown: Was Harold Wilson suspected of being a Soviet spy?

Started Mr Selfridge which is rather sterile, filmed in a soft glow very much like those Spanish series (Gran Hotel etc). Needs a bit more grit.

Also just started The Two Popes and quite how they got Anthony Hopkins and Johnathan Pryce to look so identical to the respective popes is amazing. It's well researched and authentic, especially the parts set in Buenos Aires.

Was going to catch up with The Affair, but Netflix is buggering up the seasons yet again.

Quote from Rice

Let us know what you think of The Two Popes, please.

It really is excellent. The acting more than anything and the way real life is woven in.

You really get to like to like Francisco, but what it doesn't show is his political persuasion and how he has abandoned his home country by allowing politics to dominate his reasoning. That's a cop-out, actually.

Ratzinger comes over as very dull indeed and out of all the music in the film, none of it was German.

We've recently watched "No time for shame", a documentary-series on the young Argentinian designer Santiago Artemis.

Born in Ushuaia, he didn't have an easy time growing there outright gay and very creative. He moved to Buenos Aires and he is gaining popularity in Japan, where they appreciate his colourful and flamboyant style.

He is just 26 years old but already accomplished a lot. He is also very funny and determined. It was quite entertaining to watch and I am looking forward to season 2. I think it may be set in Japan, this time.

I can't find the movie with the Settings > Attach movie or show plugin. Here is the link to watch it on Netflix: https://www.netflix.com/browse?jbv=81105522&jbp=0&jbr=2

A four-episode series on DNA engineering: did you know that you can do it at home? And that there are so called bio-hackers trying to create fluorescent dogs and self-treat HIV? Whereas, the scientific community is extremely conscious of the possible implications of releasing DNA-modified organisms in the wild, and while they are exploring and studying potential beneficial applications, they are also considering the potential it has if mishandled or used for the right purpose. It's the biggest power ever seen after nuclear power.

Scary but very informative!

Quote from GlasgowJohn

Finally managed to see "The Irishman" last night. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

We did it in one sitting with a cheese and wine break half way through.

We've been trying to watch it for over a week. Inevitably, either of us falls asleep after 20'. A lot of dejavú from the many Italo-american movies. Bo-oh-ring.

And Deniro, imho, lost his his acting with all those crappy movies he had to make in-between classics.

Quote from Rice

You found it boring, serafina ? Wow. I was completely engaged from start to finish. And I loved De Niro’s performance.

Nowadays, he does the same character, movie after movie.

Didn't it have English subtitles?

Id watch it just for the French accent!