This spring, I watched When Life Gives You Tangerines, and I honestly didn’t expect to be so fully transposed. Even though my own experience is tied to French Polynesia and the series is set in South Korea (Jeju), the depiction of island life - the good and the bad - the dream of escaping to the big city (in my case, the “Métropole”; in the series’ case, the mainland), and the struggles of adapting to that big city once you get there as an “exotic” person, all felt so familiar and well done that I cried during every episode. I’m curious - have you ever experienced something like this with a movie or series?
Mr. Robot
Blake’s 7.
The world is shit. Fascism keeps coming back from collapse. Everyone is out for themselves. Peaceful revolution falls apart immediately. Violence actually gets results. Stupid people and stupid decisions bring everything crashing down.
The only part that doesn’t feel true to life is all the space oddities that exceed anything on Earth.
“Mythic Quest”. It very much mirrored the work place dynamics at the creative place I worked at for a decade. It made me question whether I was too broken and far gone to function outside of it. Time will tell.
“The Studio” is another one. I actually had to stop watching the show, because of how much anxiety it was causing me. It’s really well done.
Firefly. Perfect combination of space and wild west.
Anne with an E was a surprise favourite of mine. I mostly just resonated with the stiff/gruff characters being totally undone by a loud mouthed girl with a heart of gold and a strong sense of justice. It kind of speaks to the idea that most people are shaped by their hard and tragic lives, but are only a few steps away from being good to one another if shown how.
I also like the unbeatable spirit of the main protagonist who somehow does not let the world get them down, rises to every challenge with spunky defiance, makes friends of their enemies, and sports orange. If Naruto and Anne of Green Gables ever met on the battlefield, I’m not sure who would be left standing.
If the question were about books instead of movies/shows Anne of Green Gables would be my answer.
The show’s on my list to watch, but that only grows, never shrinks.
Anne of Green Gables is one of my favourite comfort novels. It just instantly takes me to a happy place. Somewhere on the internet, I once saw Anne described as
a red-haired, freckle-faced orphan who faces the world with nothing but the sheer force of her personality
which summarises it very well.
If anyone is interested in checking it out, I cannot recommend this LibriVox recording by Karen Savage enough.
Somebody Somewhere reminds me of me after college. Felt like I was just on auto pilot, wouldn’t go outside my comfort zone unless pushed, and used alcohol to numb the pain.
Life is better now :)
Ted Lasso season 1 is exactly what my soul needed during the pandemic.
This one is really good, we watched it also.
One of my favourite pieces of media of all time, hands down.
Our Blues is also very similar.
The Good Place - Excellent characters, excellent humor, brilliant commentary, and one of the most thoughtful endings I’ve ever watched.
Ted Lasso - Excellent characters, people who hate sports can still love this show, unexpectedly hilarious (not funny, not humorous, I almost died laughing a few times), the worst character becomes one of the best characters, the nicest character becomes the most tragic characters.
Pachinko - Absolutely perfect in design and execution, the best period piece I’ve ever watched (covers multiple periods, as well), biting (almost damning) commentary on Imperial & Post War Japan, characters you either side with out of the gate or grow to understand and empathize with.
Naughty Nurses 6
Really loved Bad Monkey with Vince Vaughn. Despite being a black comedy it just seemed to hit me in the right place. Vaughn is always so positive and chatty in it even to the bad guys and it just cracks me up.
And the narrators voice is 👌
The Station Agent
Details?
Quiet reclusive train enthusiast played by Peter Dinklage loses his only friend. The friend leaves him a small property which he moves into to live in isolation. The isolation part proves more challenging than anticipated and despite his efforts he gradually begins making new connections with the people around him.
I’ll have to give that a watch. Dinklage is always a joy to watch.
Why did it mean a lot to you? If you don’t mind sharing.
I think I just relate to the loneliness and the competing desires for solitude and connection. It’s always nice to see a character heal from something you’re personally struggling with.
They didn’t make me a manager until I had been on the job for over a decade.
One day I look at an old favorite, “The Dirty Dozen.”
Early on, the Major is ordered to meet with the General, who tells him he has to train twelve condemned prisoners for a suicide mission behind the German lines. The Major obeys the orders, but opines that whoever came up with the plan must be insane. The General tells him to shut up and go; then the General tells his staff that the idea is insane.
Then the Major has to meet the troops and convince each man that it’s in his best interests to join the mission.
Being given stupid orders and then having to lead a bunch of psychos and idiots to achieve the goal is the essence of being a middle manager.
Not my all time favorited but truly an unforgettable gem:
The Good Place.
Not only does it tackle the toughest questions in life, its the perfect thought experiment: okay, let’s say you have a heaven, what then?
I was not okay when that show ended. I caught myself zoning off and staring into the distance a lot that month. It really reframed things.
I got really into Six Feet Under 20 years ago. I kind of feel like The Good Place was like it’s surreal, light-hearted successor in some way. Life, death. One is messy and chaotic and dramatic and awful. Then death happens and everything gets really weird.
Season 1 of The Last of Us. I was very close to my dad, and my real dad isn’t my biological dad. I miss him and I’m often in !dadforaminute@lemmy.world
Watching a daddy daughter relationship develop was really powerful for me, I have NEVER connected with a show or film so much. They weren’t biological and started as strangers just like me and my real dad, but they fiercely were at the end. I couldn’t watch s2 because s1 is perfect for me and I don’t want to change that.
Good call on not watching season 2. You’re not missing out
