Rando Recommendations: What Pop Culture Thing Do You Recommend (Not Geek Media)

[Umbran]

There's a special brilliance in a lot of these because they're so good at playing things straight while being completely bonkers.

Much of which can be traced to how the dialog isn't precisely "written". Most of it is improvised, and that leads it to have tone more similar to actual conversation than "look, it is a joke!"

 

[Snarf Zagyg]

There's a special brilliance in a lot of these because they're so good at playing things straight while being completely bonkers. And that dates all the way back to Spinal Tap. When Spinal Tap appeared on SNL as the musical guest, it was accompanied by an interview with that week's host Barry Bostwick. I didn't immediately catch on that the band was a gag - I just thought they were really stupid. Admittedly, I was young at the time and didn't recognize Michael McKean and didn't connect Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap to the Nigel Tufnel on my Lenny and the Squigtones album.

Tonight I'm gonna rock you tonight ...

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I’ve seen all of those except For Your Consideration, actually! They‘re all funny, but Tap is the only one I can quote.

 

[Ryujin]

Don't forget:
Waiting for Guffman: community theater
For Your Consideration: awards buzz

There's a special brilliance in a lot of these because they're so good at playing things straight while being completely bonkers. And that dates all the way back to Spinal Tap. When Spinal Tap appeared on SNL as the musical guest, it was accompanied by an interview with that week's host Barry Bostwick. I didn't immediately catch on that the band was a gag - I just thought they were really stupid. Admittedly, I was young at the time and didn't recognize Michael McKean and didn't connect Nigel Tufnel of Spinal Tap to the Nigel Tufnel on my Lenny and the Squigtones album.

To this I would add...

"Attacking the Darkness" - independent film, religious film, role playing gamers, ... The pretty much take the piss out of anything related. Definitely not in any way related to the film, produced by the same people, of the Chick Tract "Dark Dungeons." Really. Seriously. I can't be more emphatic on this point. < Ahem... >

 

[Ulfgeir]

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, set in Australia of the 20s. Fun entertainment. Well made.

'The series revolves around the personal and professional life of Phryne Fisher (Essie Davis), a glamorous private detective in 1920s Melbourne. Three series have been broadcast, and a feature film titled Miss Fisher and the Crypt of Tears was released in February 2020. A television spin-off Ms Fisher's Modern Murder Mysteries was broadcast in 2019. Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries has been aired in over 100 countries and territories.'

Seen a couple of episodes. Very nice. It is on my long list of things to watch.

I would add the following youtube-channels:

Tasting history with Max Miller. He does like to cook (food from old recipes) and talks about history.. Packaged in small bite-sized episodes.

The Charismatic Voice. A very nerdy opera singer / vocal coach / composer reacts to, and analyzes music videos. Lots of metal-videos. She has done some really good interview as well, where she and the interviewee both go full nerdiness on music and other things.

Also fallen down the rabbithole of a couple of dress historian talking about historically clothing (both in General and in film/tv). Don't know the names of their channels, but look for Abby Cox, Bernadotte Banner, and Karolina Zebrowska.


Edit: added the links for the channels..

Tasting History: https://www.youtube.com/c/TastingHistory/featured
The Charismatic voice: https://www.youtube.com/c/TheCharismaticVoice/featured
Abby Cox: https://www.youtube.com/c/AbbyCox/featured
Bernadette Banner: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSHtaUm-FjUps090S7crO4Q/featured
Karolina Zebrowska: https://www.youtube.com/user/czekoladaimaslo

 

[LoganRan]

Long time lurker, first time poster...

Two of my current favs are: Endeavour (Amazon Prime) which depicts the early years of Inspector Morse in Oxford, England and Detectorists (Acorn TV), a show about metal detectors (err...detectorists) and their lives in rural Essex.

I would also give a second recommendation for Doc Martin who is my personal hero.

 

[Tonguez]

Seen a couple of episodes. Very nice. It is on my long list of things to watch.

I would add the following youtube-channels:

Tasting history with Max Miller. He does like to cook (food from old recipes) and talks about history.. Packaged in small bite-sized episodes.

The Charismatic Voice. A very nerdy opera singer / vocal coach / composrr reaccts to, and analyzes music videos. Lots of metall-videos. She has done some really good interview as well, where she and the interview er both go full neriness on music and other things.

Also fallen down the rabbithole of a couple of dress historian talking about historically clothing (both in General and in film/tv). Don't know the names of their channel, but look for Abby Cox, Bernadotte Banner (?), and Karolina Zybriewska (?).

Yes Tasting History is some great stuff, Max is really entertaining
and I adore Bernadette Banner, her quirkiness is so enchanting (does she count as a celebrity? She’d be my celebrity crush)

 

[Ryujin]

Long time lurker, first time poster...

Two of my current favs are: Endeavour (Amazon Prime) which depicts the early years of Inspector Morse in Oxford, England and Detectorists (Acorn TV), a show about metal detectors (err...detectorists) and their lives in rural Essex.

I would also give a second recommendation for Doc Martin who is my personal hero.

Haven't seen the first, but "Detectorists" is excellent.

 

[Eltab]

Some of us do read.
Bill O'Reilly's Killing XYZ books. Each focuses on an individual and the era he lived in. I re-read Killing Lincoln.

 

[Mad_Jack]

The Charismatic Voice. A very nerdy opera singer / vocal coach / composrr reaccts to, and analyzes music videos. Lots of metall-videos. She has done some really good interview as well, where she and the interview er both go full neriness on music and other things.

I love her - she's so enthusiastic about everything, and her facial expressions are freakin' priceless, lol. She also has a great way of explaining things, and you can learn a lot about singing just by listening to her.

My suggestions:

Underground: A tv series about escaped slaves, starring Aldis Hodge and Jurnee Smollett... They've only made two seasons of it, and I've only watched the first so far, but the acting and writing on it is amazing. The choices of background music are perfect for the scenes, and the supporting cast is deep with great character actors as well - in the first season Christopher Meloni of L&O: SVU/Oz fame plays a bounty hunter who travels with his teenaged son while hunting escaped slaves.
Available on dvd fairly cheaply, and probably to be found on at least one of the streaming services.

Sharpe's Rifles: This is a series of fourteen British tv movies from the '90's based on the best-selling novels by Bernard Cornwell...
Sean Bean of Game of Thrones/LotR stars as Richard Sharpe, an enlisted man in the British army during the Napoleonic Wars who gets jumped up to officer rank after saving Wellington's life. It's an excellent historical action/adventure series, full of great battles and good dialogue.
I own the first five collected on dvd. They may be hard to find.

Strike Back: a co-production between Cinemax and Sky One, about a secret British military unit called Section 20, based on the 2007 novel by Chris Ryan... It's basically non-stop shooting intercut with great character moments and the occasional hot sex scene. It's nothing that hasn't been done a hundred times before, but Strike Back does it damn well and with style.
Available on dvd, and most likely on the streaming services.

Copper: About an Irish police detective in NYC in 1864, who comes back from fighting in the Civil War to find his wife missing and his daughter murdered.
Available on dvd and probably the streaming services.