A new intro to our recently merged media talk topic

A place for both film/movie and tv tips, watch outs, don't bothers and so on and on...

Enjoyable worthwhile discussion being the aim.. 

Edited June 15Jun 15 by Mike
tv and film topics merged into one

Binge watched The last Anniversary , really good, a lot going on what with flashbacks etc, very clever at the end how they tie up all the loose ends so you're not left with any questions about what happened to who, who did what etc. highly recommended.

12 hours ago, Twoshoes said:

I was slightly disappointed Kathryn to find that Jeb Pyre was a fictional character as was the other detective,can't remember his name. Still a gripping tale though.

I just googled the name Jeb Pyre & it brought up quite a bit of info on all the characters in the series. Apparently - although the name Jeb Pyre was fictional - the character was based on real-life detective Terry Fox. He was responsible for investigating the chain of events & his life & religious beliefs were very similar to those of Jeb Pyre. After his retirement from the police force, he worked at Brigham Young University.

Lots more info about the series on a website called "TheCinemaholic"

On 11/05/2025 at 13:38, Kathryn Magson said:

Is anyone watching Malpractice? It's a brilliant, well-acted drama series on ITV - about the stresses & strains felt by NHS staff to meet targets etc. Another 👍 from me!

Yes I watch Malpractice too. It's a really good series, and well acted too x

3 hours ago, Kathryn Magson said:

I just googled the name Jeb Pyre

As did I Kathryn, you obviously found a better site with more info. When I looked it didn't give a name and just said Pyre was loosely based on a real life detective. Cheers for that, interesting site " the cinemaholic", thanks for that too.

I started watching Shardlake on ITV - I normally like Sean Bean so was expecting it to be really good, but so far it's disappointing & I wouldn't recommend it.....anybody else watching it?

3 hours ago, Kathryn Magson said:

I started watching Shardlake on ITV - I normally like Sean Bean so was expecting it to be really good, but so far it's disappointing & I wouldn't recommend it.....anybody else watching it?

I was underwhelmed by it , but I've read all of CJ Sansom's Shardlake series of books so I was over critical.

The Bombing of Pan Am 103 is well worth watching. Hard to watch, but it's really well-acted & sympathetically-done. Thanks & hats off to all concerned for handling this sad story in such a sensitive & tactful way.👍

Edited June 10Jun 10 by Kathryn Magson

anyone seen this yet?

just a heads up that looking at merging this and the film topic into a 'catch all' media video type of thing

any thoughts on that before flicking the switch ?

Seems reasonable to me Mike, I think the majorcontributors to both threads are more or less the same people.

Sounds good to me Mike👍

And me.👌👍

Dept Q on Netflix is a good gritty Scottish crime drama, Well recommended.

Edited June 13Jun 13 by Jessie Pinkman

Treading Water, 2024 release,

Director Gino Evans , Produced by Ben Toye ,

Stars , Joe Gill , Becky Bowe , Darren Connolly.

Following his release from prison, Danny struggles with addiction & intrusive thoughts. He reconnects with schoolfriend Laura who is equally trapped in her own choices .

BFI 2 nominations, currently showing on Prime , I think . Filmed in Manchester & one to look for .

ok thanks for the feedback

as mentioned earlier, film and tv topics merged now into one (this one)and given a new title

'media talk - movies and tv'

As Jaws hits its 50th anniversary in 5 days time (well the movie at least—Benchley's book was a year earlier), time for another airing of this personal reflection on hot summers, skinny tees and not going in the water...

E. Mark Windle - Biographer and...

A Toast to Childhood, Spielberg, and Spanish Ladies - E....

E. Mark Windle     15 February 2024. Reflecting on Jaws, the iconic movie that defined an era. Its literary inspiration, why today’s kids don’t get it, and what they are missing. Society has a habi...

18 hours ago, Windlesoul said:

As Jaws hits its 50th anniversary in 5 days time (well the movie at least—Benchley's book was a year earlier), time for another airing of this personal reflection on hot summers, skinny tees and not going in the water...

E. Mark Windle - Biographer and...

A Toast to Childhood, Spielberg, and Spanish Ladies - E....

E. Mark Windle     15 February 2024. Reflecting on Jaws, the iconic movie that defined an era. Its literary inspiration, why today’s kids don’t get it, and what they are missing. Society has a habi...

that's a great read Mark

will always remember the jumps when watching it when it first come out in a packed cinema

19 hours ago, Windlesoul said:

As Jaws hits its 50th anniversary in 5 days time (well the movie at least—Benchley's book was a year earlier), time for another airing of this personal reflection on hot summers, skinny tees and not going in the water...

E. Mark Windle - Biographer and...

A Toast to Childhood, Spielberg, and Spanish Ladies - E....

E. Mark Windle     15 February 2024. Reflecting on Jaws, the iconic movie that defined an era. Its literary inspiration, why today’s kids don’t get it, and what they are missing. Society has a habi...

I recently listened to the audiobook, the intro worked really well in this format..

19 hours ago, Windlesoul said:

As Jaws hits its 50th anniversary in 5 days time (well the movie at least—Benchley's book was a year earlier), time for another airing of this personal reflection on hot summers, skinny tees and not going in the water...

E. Mark Windle - Biographer and...

A Toast to Childhood, Spielberg, and Spanish Ladies - E....

E. Mark Windle     15 February 2024. Reflecting on Jaws, the iconic movie that defined an era. Its literary inspiration, why today’s kids don’t get it, and what they are missing. Society has a habi...

Thanks for the interesting read!👍

Murder 24/7 BBC, last night was brilliant, it's on again tonight and tomorrow night, also 3 nights next week.

Edited June 17Jun 17 by Divot

I've just started watching Undercover on BBCiplayer - episode 1 & I'm already hooked! It has an excellent cast - lots of twists & turns so no spoilers - it's well worth watching - big thumbs-up from me!

24 hours later..............

Now I'm into episode 4 of Undercover & I have to say this is one of the best dramas I've seen for a long time.....somebody else watch it please!🤣

Edited June 25Jun 25 by Kathryn Magson

We watched this a couple of weeks ago , highly recommended.

The Six Triple Eight , it's an untold story ( personally my type of war films ) about how a black woman Battalion of 855 , joined the war effort to fix a 3 year backlog of undelivered mail . Faced with discrimination, racism , & war torn conditions, they sort over 17 million pieces of mail , ahead of schedule.

Netflix .

6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion , I think was their real name

Looking forward to the new season of the bear

Echo Valley Film on Apple Tv

now that was a surprise, the trailer and description gives off a normal sort of thriller plot

but things are not what you read

we both expected an average generic thriller but got an above average watch with a twist or two

enjoyable watch be our call

The second series of The Gold on BBC1 is equally as good as the first. Probably the best series I've seen this year (along with Mob Land)

Try watching Fearless on ITVX - Helen McCrory & John Bishop I'm into episode 3 now & it's really good!

On 27/06/2025 at 22:03, Happy Feet said:

We watched this a couple of weeks ago , highly recommended.

The Six Triple Eight , it's an untold story ( personally my type of war films ) about how a black woman Battalion of 855 , joined the war effort to fix a 3 year backlog of undelivered mail . Faced with discrimination, racism , & war torn conditions, they sort over 17 million pieces of mail , ahead of schedule.

Netflix .

6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion , I think was their real name

You might like Hidden Figures - it's available on Amazon, but it also keeps popping up on network telly too. True story & well worth watching.

Edited June 29Jun 29 by Kathryn Magson

Hi All murder 24/7 on bbc brilliant

Also local if you are from the Midlands. All episodes on iplayer.

KTF

12 hours ago, Mike said:

Echo Valley Film on Apple Tv

now that was a surprise, the trailer and description gives off a normal sort of thriller plot

but things are not what you read

we both expected an average generic thriller but got an above average watch with a twist or two

enjoyable watch be our call

Thanks Mike, we just watched this and really enjoyed it.

Sorry if already mentioned but I enjoyed Your Friends and Neighbors, a hedge fund manager who is sacked and resorts to robbing his neighbours

IMDb

Your Friends and Neighbors (TV Series 2025– ) ⭐ 7.7 | Drama

| 15

most people i've spoken to about film The Salt Path said that the book(s) were much better. I've not read the book(s), but did see the film recently and was pretty bored. The film leaves a lot 'unsaid'. For instance (and this doesn't give the plot away, because there is no real plot) why did the male lead lose his farm? what was the investment that went wrong? who was the lady (and her house/farm) where they spent months?, etc.

I think it's a BBC film or asscoiated with them, so i wished i'd waited until it comes via TV, rather than make special trip to the cinema.

https://www.google.com/search?gs_ssp=eJzj4tVP1zc0zC7MqDLKTqowYPTiLclIVShOzClRKEgsyQAAkq0J3g&q=the+salt+path&rlz=1C1CHBF_enGB1120GB1120&oq=the+salt+path&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqDQgCEC4Y1AIYsQMYgAQyBwgAEAAYjwIyDQgBEC4Y1AIYsQMYgAQyDQgCEC4Y1AIYsQMYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyBwgEEAAYgAQyBwgFEAAYgAQyBwgGEAAYgAQyBwgHEAAYgAQyBwgIEAAYgAQyBwgJEAAYgATSAQg4ODI5ajBqN6gCALACAA&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Edited July 2Jul 2 by Kenb

20 hours ago, Kenb said:

most people i've spoken to about film The Salt Path said that the book(s)

I've read the book and when the film was announced I couldn't see how they could faithfully recreate it, as with the people you have talked with the book is a really good read. Much like the film of Where the Crawdads Sing which I saw after reading the book you didn't get a sense of the depth of the people portrayed in the film as you do in the book. With a film I think you either engage with actor playing the part or you don't whereas with a book you get to know the characters more slowly and build up how they look etc in your imagination. A case in point being Tom Cruise cast as Jack Reacher, I have neither read the books or seen the films but my mate being a fan found it hard to accept Cruise as Jack due to a height difference as Reacher was described as 6' 5" and an imposing figure, Cruise being 5' 7".

On 30/06/2025 at 15:58, Chalky said:

Sorry if already mentioned but I enjoyed Your Friends and Neighbors, a hedge fund manager who is sacked and resorts to robbing his neighbours

IMDb

Your Friends and Neighbors (TV Series 2025– ) ⭐ 7.7 | Drama

| 15

we stalled on it after episode 2, seemed ok, but didn't get dragged back to it, maybe due to other schedules, after reading ya take, will revisit and see how it goes

have to say apple tv does seem to have some strong shows at moment, 'Slow horses' etc

1 hour ago, Mike said:

we stalled on it after episode 2, seemed ok, but didn't get dragged back to it, maybe due to other schedules, after reading ya take, will revisit and see how it goes

have to say apple tv does seem to have some strong shows at moment, 'Slow horses' etc

Yes Mike it's definitely worth watching.

You mentioned apple tv having some good shows, I've just finished Season 1 of Tehran, there's 2 seasons of it. Well recommended spy thriller that's partly subtitled, part dubbed and part English.

Those Who Kill on BBC iplayer is worth a look - it's a Danish crime thriller series. Very disturbing in places, well-acted & well worth watching. I'm into the second series now & I'm gripped!👍

2 hours ago, Kathryn Magson said:

Those Who Kill on BBC iplayer

Brilliant series, we've watched all four,the quality never drops, excellent recommendation for those who have missed it.

Edited July 8Jul 8 by Twoshoes
Spelling

On 03/07/2025 at 11:25, Twoshoes said:

I've read the book and when the film was announced I couldn't see how they could faithfully recreate it, as with the people you have talked with the book is a really good read. Much like the film of Where the Crawdads Sing which I saw after reading the book you didn't get a sense of the depth of the people portrayed in the film as you do in the book. With a film I think you either engage with actor playing the part or you don't whereas with a book you get to know the characters more slowly and build up how they look etc in your imagination. A case in point being Tom Cruise cast as Jack Reacher, I have neither read the books or seen the films but my mate being a fan found it hard to accept Cruise as Jack due to a height difference as Reacher was described as 6' 5" and an imposing figure, Cruise being 5' 7".

She sounds like a wrong un (the author)

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/jul/07/author-of-bestselling-memoir-the-salt-path-accused-of-lying-and-stealing-observer-investigation-raynor-winn

20 hours ago, Chalky said:

She sounds like a wrong un (the author)

It would seem so, telling that she says we will make no further comment at this time. I think I'd be protesting my innocence to all and sundry were the accusations false.

Don't know if anyone had mentioned Pale Mountains, Italian crime series on Channel 4 catch up. One of the best things I've watched in a while. Highly recommended, keeps you thinking to the end.

1 hour ago, Twoshoes said:

Don't know if anyone had mentioned Pale Mountains, Italian crime series on Channel 4 catch up. One of the best things I've watched in a while. Highly recommended, keeps you thinking to the end.

Thanks - I'll have a look for that one!👍