stuff i've watched the last few weeks:
nearly finished season 1 of gangs of london now. i'm not sure if it's because of the popularity of john wick in particular but it feels like proper action scenes are actually fucking coming into fashion again? we're seeing less and less crosscutting shakycam shit and more and more actual fight choreography. they're especially fucking unhinged here of course, i'd expect no less from gareth evans but it's cool to see it in a context when you've grown an attachment to the characters instead of it just being a random string of nonames getting pummelled. the writing is surprisingly smart and nuanced as well, it can a try a little too hard to be arty and operatic at times (so many shots through broken mirrors and father/son parallels lol) and it also goes too far the other way into mindless gore (i'm not advocating pulling punches, there's just some bits i found gratuitous and edgy), but mostly it hits the right balance between depraved trash and serious TV. i do love that it feels like it'd be willing to go to places other shows won't so you constantly feel a sense of breathless anticipation while watching, always feels like there's probably gonna be some kind of unexpected holy fuck moment just around the corner. i'm also just a sucker for shows with loads of memorable villains and it delivers in spades there, characters and performances are generally strong. lucian msamati might be my standout so far.
watched the first two seasons of atlanta. a little outside my usual wheelhouse but it's really good shit, season 2 lived up to its reputation with a consecutive string of surreal epics (the one set in the michael jackson style mansion is fucking batshit lol). i guess i always vibe with this kind of deadpan sardonic outside-looking-in at a bizarre fucked up world type stuff. zadie beetz is the star for me, not surprising she got snapped up by multiple comic book movies right after.
hot streets is rick & morty's more fucked in the head little brother, with a pinch of sealab 2021 for good measure. it doesn't have the same exhilaratingly clever plotting but it also has less of the irritating lows, all in all i'd say it's weaker but i really appreciate the no fucks given late night adult swim energy, it commits absolutely to every fucking retarded rabbit hole that enters its brain. episodes are only 10 minutes so it never drags, i'd recommend checking out s1 e4 'the egg' to see if it's for you.
and i finally sat and watched garth marenghi's darkplace front to back, i've caught and loved bits before but i've been saving it. only just finished this but my first impressions are it's a top 15 or so tv show of all time, even better than the iannucci/morris stuff that influenced it. strangely feels a lot closer to the experience of watching twin peaks than all of the more deliberate and serious imitations i've seen. in the entire 6 episodes i'm not sure there's a single minute that didn't make me laugh out loud. i hope they never try to revamp it honestly, just let perfect things stay perfect.
watched the first ep of barry and i wasn't into it but i've heard it gets really good in s2 so i'll probably go back.
