TV worth watching

[The Silly Swede]

Have begun watching the Crown season 4. Didn't see the previous seasons, but now that they have reached the 80s, my era, with events and people I can relate to, I started watching.

Not half bad, despite the shameful left wing anti-Thatcherism. I do like however that they make pretty much everyone in the royal family come off as quite disgusting human beings.

[The Silly Swede]

Finnished Queens Gambit. Liked it quite a bit. I have some issues with the pacing at times, and it was far from perfect. But it was good and it kept me watching until the end, which is very rare for series.

[Dom D]

Matches to decide the world chanpion are done as best of twenty or something ridiculous. Speed chess tournaments often have more than one game per match as well. Most tournaments though, like the state and national championship you see in the show, will be played as Swiss Round Robin. In that system if you win a game you play another winner, losers play losers and throughout the tournament you play someone on the same score as yourself. The system is designed so that the best players are hopefully playing off for the tournament in the last round.

[The Silly Swede]

One thing a bit strange with The Queens Gambit though: All the competitions seem to be single matches? I thought it was always a series, with the winner being the best of 3 or 5 or something.

[The Silly Swede]

I can't hold that against them as they do seem to be leaning heavily on the Bobby Fisher story and obviously he fits that description to a T. Lot of parralels between the two though Beth is a much more likable character than Fisher.

Yes, quite. He was a bit of a weirdo old Bobby. I saw the biopic they did about him a few years ago, but it left really no lasting impression.

[Dom D]

It is a bit clichéd in the whole prodigy (with issues) out of nowhere routine

I can't hold that against them as they do seem to be leaning heavily on the Bobby Fisher story and obviously he fits that description to a T. Lot of parralels between the two though Beth is a much more likable character than Fisher.

[The Silly Swede]

I'm halfway through The Queens gambit, and liking it. It is slow, and I usually become bored with series with this kind of pacing, but this has managed to keep me interested.

It is a bit clichéd in the whole prodigy (with issues) out of nowhere routine, but it more then makes up for that in other aspects. And as an old chess player I am liking it.

Still consider Knight Moves with Lambert as the best chess film though. I think of it as a Chess-Giallo.

[Dom D]

Really dug the rest of The Queens Gambit. The ending is a bit Rocky 4 for a character program but otherwise a really nicely modulated bit of work. If there are any other chess nuts here I thought this analysis of the final between Harmon and Borgov is tops and really goes to show the attention to detail in this program:

[Dom D]

Ha, nice call on the depiction of chess in movies, Dom. Films about chess always remind me of the dilemma Top of the Pops faced in the 1980s when house music became popular - and they struggled to make this visually interesting, ending up with the cliche of guys with 'keyboard guitars' hanging aroud their necks, swamped by dancers and people miming desperately to sampled sounds. Chess is all about the internals - hard to depict onscreen in a way that's visually dramatic.

Thats very true I guess. Sometimes it's visual though. You don't have to know anything about chess to watch this video and know who's the greatest player in the world and who's a mere humble Grandmaster. I love the arrogance here.

[Paul L]

The Queens Gambit. I don't know if Im enjoying this show because it's good or because it gets chess right. Watching chess onscreen is always frustrating. The white queen starts on the black square. The wrong pieces move. My least favourite film cliche of all, seen in Blade Runner and a billion others, is when you have two masters playing the game, studying the board intensely, and then one of them slowly, lugubriously, moves a piece and calmly declares checkmate to his opponents absolute shock. No. Such a thing only happens on the boards of absolute hacks.

Ha, nice call on the depiction of chess in movies, Dom. Films about chess always remind me of the dilemma Top of the Pops faced in the 1980s when house music became popular - and they struggled to make this visually interesting, ending up with the cliche of guys with 'keyboard guitars' hanging aroud their necks, swamped by dancers and people miming desperately to sampled sounds. Chess is all about the internals - hard to depict onscreen in a way that's visually dramatic.

The scene from BLADE RUNNER perhaps gets a pass because it shows how Roy Batty has surpassed his creator, Tyrell.

I was always fond of INNOCENT MOVES/SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER. That was a pretty decent film. And KNIGHT MOVES with Christophe Lambert - but that's a whole other board game. (Board game, geddit?)

[Dom D]

The Queens Gambit. I don't know if Im enjoying this show because it's good or because it gets chess right. Watching chess onscreen is always frustrating. The white queen starts on the black square. The wrong pieces move. My least favourite film cliche of all, seen in Blade Runner and a billion others, is when you have two masters playing the game, studying the board intensely, and then one of them slowly, lugubriously, moves a piece and calmly declares checkmate to his opponents absolute shock. No. Such a thing only happens on the boards of absolute hacks.

But this one gets it right for the first time, in my recall, since Searching For Bobby Fisher. They actually look like they're playing chess.

Beyond that it's a slightly slow burn. The lead actress is kind of fascinating looking and has an enjoybly quirky prescense and the whole thing is pretty comfortable, easy, viewing. Tentatively recommended after a couple episodes.

[Paul L]

What was the lesson?

The seasons are very dissimilar, and I am one of the few who really enjoyed Season 2.

I liked season two too. A slightly bumpy beginning but the final few eps were pretty enjoyable.

[Alex K.]

What was the lesson?

To cut your losses. Not everything needs to just keep going. So many shows/franchises go to shit and I don't feel any need to see seasons 2 and 3.

[Marshall Crist]

I got through season one of True Detective. Very good. But no desire to see seasons 2 and 3. I've learned my lesson.

What was the lesson?

The seasons are very dissimilar, and I am one of the few who really enjoyed Season 2.

[Alex K.]

I got through season one of True Detective. Very good. But no desire to see seasons 2 and 3. I've learned my lesson.