What I'm Watching... July & August 2019

It has been a little quiet on the blog lately as we are revamping our kitchen and dining room which turned into a much bigger project than we anticipated but the end is in sight and normal service is resuming soon! Here's a roundup of what we've been watching whilst living in one room surrounded by the contents of our downstairs (at one point I was watching TV through a tub chair).

TV

Designated Survivor (Season 1-3) - Netflix

I started watching Designated Survivor a while back but couldn't get into it - it just felt very wrong seeing Kiefer Sutherland in a different role ad I was a huge 24 fan.  But on my Brother's insistence I gave it another go and once I accepted Jack Bauer wasn't going to appear i settled into it. It's completely far fetched and crazy but a very easy watch. When it shifts to Season 3 it's a Netflix production and be warned the swearing levels get a bit extreme. I actually think it ruins it a bit and I didn't enjoy the last season as much as the earlier ones.

The Boys (Season 1) - Amazon Originals

Husband was keen to try this new show about a group of rogue superheroes and the vigilante group who are out to stop them (with a little revenge thrown in). It's actually a super clever series with a surprising amount of backstory and depth. I'm excited to see how it pans out. Warning: it's an 18 with a lot of violence, gore, sex and swearing.

Homecoming (Season 1) - Amazon Originals

Homecoming stars Julia Roberts as Heidi Bergman,  a case worker at Homecoming - a facility for helping soldiers transition back into civilian life. Fast forward 5years and Hedi has started a new life and is working as a waitress. When a Defence Department agent comes to question her about her time at Homecoming her memories are vague, worryingly vague. What happened at Homecoming and why doesn't she remember? This is a really great self contained 10 episode mini series. It cleverly flits between the present and past building a picture of the events at Homecoming with some clever plot twists. I love that you are given a very definite ending with all the loose ends wrapped up.

Movies

The Lion King (2019)

This year we've seen a few disappointing Disney live action remakes. Dumbo was a flop and Aladdin ok but not amazing. But it's certainly third time lucky for Disney as The Lion King is phenomenal. Created using the kind of advance CGI which makes you actually believe you are watching live animals roaming around the plains and singing in unison, the story pretty much follows the animated classic frame by frame with a few extended scenes to make it a longer 2hr run time.  The only voice you'll recognise from the original film is James Earl Jones reprising his role as King Mufasa (and thank god Disney made that decision because who else would be able to do that voice justice!) but you'll also hear Beyonce as Nala (who is given a larger and more powerful role in the story)  and Seth Rogen as Pumba (who quite possibly along with his sidekick Timon are even funnier in this version). The only thing I will say is I didn't cry when Mufasa died - which I always do in the animated version. So perhaps all the amazing CGI did counteract the raw emotion you get with the original. If you haven't seen it then you must.

Toy Story 4 (2019)

I really, really didn't want to see this film. For me the ending of Toy Story 3 was the perfect way to leave the toys. I don't think this film did anything to further the Toy Story legacy and it really felt like a bit of an aside. The kids fidgeted a lot - enough said.

Detective Pikachu (2019)

This was a Kids Club viewing for us at the beginning of the summer holidays. I was keen because I'd been told I'd get a glimpse of Ryan Reynolds... The movie is set in a world where people collect Pokemon (real live pokemon) except in Ryme City where humans and Pokemon live side by side as equals. When Detective Harry Goodman goes missing his son Tim needs to find out what happened and his biggest clue is Harry's sidekick pokemon Pikachu - who miraculously sounds like Ryan Reynolds and can communicate with Tim (but just Tim). Ryan Reynolds makes this so funny and I was surprised how engaged I was with the storyline I was. The kids also sat completelu still and were completely enraptured by the plot - in contrast to how fidgety they were during Toy Story...

What are you watching at the moment?