It seems like a film with intermissions because it was a cinema movie in Norway extended with some bonus scenes. Though it was initially conceived as a mini-series, so it has come full circle.
It’s based on the historical fate of the 35,000 - 40,000 Scandinavian sailors who were exiled when Germany invaded Denmark and Norway and of which more than 90% decided to sail in Allied service for the duration of the war. 15-20% would never return home.
Saw the first two Beefs and I’m really liking it. Not sure where it’s going but I’m eager to find out. I knew Steven Yeun had all those acting chops but Ali Wong is surprisingly terrific and displaying a range I didn’t know she had.
Slightly off-topic, but that reminded me that Ali Wong’s 3rd Netflix special is just as filthy and hilarious as her first two. She is such a blast if you don’t mind the obscene comedy.
I thought it was good, both informative and well-done. And they gave the clear impression that the merchant sailors didn’t really have much choice about whether to remain with their ships.
She played a somewhat complicated character in Amazon’s Paper Girls (criminally cancelled after one season) as the present-day version of one of the girls from the early 1980s.
Many volunteered. But yes - many were basically pressganged into service or forced through a lack of viable alternatives. And there was no hero’s welcome when most of them returned - they were not “resistance fighters”, no pay, and the vast majority were left to fade away in silence. Nursing the bottle, to forget broken ships, burning people, and comrades left behind in the water (convoys did not stop to pick up survivors). Few of them grew old.
They’re the forgotten heroes of the War. More so because their efforts actually made a real difference to the outcome.
We finished this up the other night. I enjoyed it, though it wasn’t great, just decent. I like spy stuff so that propped up my interest level somewhat. I’m on board for season 2, though it seems like a lot of these shows deflate a bit after the initial storyline is completed.
I wish it was called something else, though. Night Agent is too close to Night Manager, a much superior one season show that now is getting a second season.
The Night Manager was the one with Hugh Laurie, right?
Yes, Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston.
I’m glad to hear a second season is in the works! The first was really good.
I’m struggling to imagine the plot line to a second season of The Night Manager. It’s a completed story.
Just give another fine le Carré novel the same classy treatment.
That ran on some cable channel as I recall (AMC maybe). I watched an episode or two but it didn’t grab me. Maybe it was a slow burn. Also I hated seeing Hugh Laurie as a bad guy.
Not a fan of Jeeves and Wooster then?
jsnell
2924
The Little Drummer Girl with Florence Pugh is definitely worth a watch, if you haven’t seen it yet.
Thanks, I’ll have to hunt it down. The 80s-era film of that book was a real mess, so it would be nice to see something better done from it.
Sometimes it really lets an actor shine to play the villain. I loved Henry Fonda in Once Upon a Time in the West as the bad guy. Ernest Borgnine as Shack in Emperor of the North was great too.
Lamalo
2927
Heh, don’t want to watch a show called House, then.
Cormac
2928
Looks like Florida Man just dropped. Anyway willing to dive in and give a quick report?
(online reviews imply its pretty muddled)
Online reviews make me wonder if a certain segment of the population thinks they are being attacked by this show? Maybe if there’s some perceived political aspect to the show we’ll have an appropriate thread, or maybe some random people on the internet have very strange takes.
