Down To Watch

Dan and Raul welcome back special guest, Natalia, for this episode. First, the film from the 80's, Stand and Deliver, is discussed as well as the brand new documentary on Netflix, My Octopus Teacher. Pen15 has a special place in the hearts and minds of Natalia and Dan, both big fans of the TV series, whereas Raul has a more difficult time finding large portions of the show palatable. All agree its a great show and well made, but the tastes of the watcher and what the find entertaining will decide whether this is the show for you. So grab your trapper-keeper and jump on in to see if you are in or out on Pen15!

Dan and Raul are back with another new month of TV shows and streaming movies for the coming month, and at first glance there didn't seem to be many obviously good shows, but then upon delving further into all the streaming networks offerings there was plenty of new media up for consumption. They cover the new and very strange streaming platform AMC+ and the new British shows premiering on this hard-to-find network, as wells as many shows on Netflix, Hulu, Showtime and Disney+, so listen ahead for a preview of what the guys might discuss on future episodes!

Dan and Raul watched two new shows first episodes, one premiering on Netflix (Ratched) and the other on HBO (The Third Day). The guys didn't agree on all aspects of the shows with Raul being more critical about these TV offerings than Dan, but still finding many interesting discussion points as can be the case with any type of show whether really great or really bad. In this case both shows kind of hover in the middle area, but are very creative endeavor's worth checking out atleast the first episodes.

Dan and Raul discuss 2 brand new shows, one that just premiered on Netflix called, Away, and the other, a new Hulu offering entitles, Woke. Away, is a space drama that both guys had issues with but will continue to watch and see how it progresses. And similar feelings can be said about, Woke, as it doesn't establish a clear vision for what it wants to say about race relations/biases in America, mixing a sometimes confusing blend of sitcom and dramatic tropes, but there are some creative flourishes that make it worth a watch.

The guys discuss the newest streaming service, Peacock, the new platform put forth by NBC-Universal, which offers a strange mix of old school scrolling-style live TV based on only NBC-Universal content, a "Trending" section (we discuss the failure of this and how it could be better), and "Browse" that contains all the shows and movies that should be the focus of the service. There is some criticism to be had, but we do cover a ton of upcoming shows that are coming in the next year as well.

Dan and Raul discuss new TV shows and movies that are premiering this month, and needless to say there is a bunch of new offerings that are sure to entertain. Some of the shows discussed are Raised By Wolves (HBO Max), The Boys: Season 2 (Amazon), The Third Day (HBO), We Are Who We Are (HBO), Ratched (Netflix), PEN15: Season 2 (Hulu), Utopia (Amazon), and Fargo: Season 4 (FX/FX on Hulu). A few movies are discussed but listen ahead for those!

Dan and Raul tackle the first episode of this brilliant new HBO series, discussing the horrific depictions of racial injustice as we follow our hero's thru the treacherous unknown terrain of middle-America and the ensuing Lovecraftian encounters with beasts. The show is very unique and expertly crafted, working from a wonderful script and assured direction that is sure to carry on thru the run of the series, the guys can't wait to potentially discuss more once the show concludes in a few months! Highly recommended!

Dan and Raul are joined once again by Jonnie and Natalia to cover this new movie that just came out on Hulu. Although the movie was solid and real funny and had time loop business that it dealt with in a cool way, everyone wasn't quite sure how this could become a bigger discussion, but ultimately the larger themes and moral dilemmas of living in a time loop situation was great fodder for some fun ideas to kick around. Not to mention, there is a ton of other time travel and time looping movies that are discussed as well!

The guys dive into the next film and filmmaker in their new series on art film directors, and this week Jean-Luc Godard is discussed along with his sci-fi film, Alphaville. Raul hadn't seen any previous works and Dan had seen a few but binged a bunch of Godard this week in preparation for the discussion. Cracking Godard can be very tough and distancing with his art-first approach, but this genre film is a rarity in his oeuvre and helped as an easier entry point to a legendarily complicated director.