Watching in July

All this sitting around because of the heat has meant lots of binge-watching. Lately I have watched:

All of the Sopranos, yes, all seven seasons of it. Made me want to eat Italian pastries!

Better Call Saul, seasons 4-5. So good!

The Great British Baking Show's latest season. Peaceful.

Stranger Things, all four seasons. Some pacing issues in the last season that had to do with dropping long speeches into propulsive action sequences.

the last ten episodes of Luoyang. Glad I finished it.

the first half of Loot, with Maya Rudolph. Great cast, sometimes weak writing.

For All Mankind, the first half of the latest season, a show I really like.

Good Luck to You, Leo Grande, a movie with Emma Thompson. B+

a miniseries on Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman directed by Ethan Hawke.

Empire Falls, an HBO miniseries based on a novel by Richard Russo, with Woodward and Newman, and a very strong cast. It was decent until it threw in a school shooting. 

Just started The Expanse, on Amazon Prime, a space opera.

Two of those "Before" Linklater films with Ethan Hawke and Julie Delphy. Can't say I share the level of enthusiasm of fans of this series.

Finally watched Pakula's The Parallax View after having it saved in my queue for ages. Another of the 1974 paranoia films (like The Conversation)

kdramas galore. I finished Tracer, in spite of the challenging dialogue that was never quite translated with enough context for a plot based on rivalries in the internal revenue service and tax corruption. Right now I'm in the middle of two that I like, Extraordinary Attorney Woo (great characters) and Alchemy of Souls (shows the influence of cdrama blockbusters with its "schools of mages" fantasy).