Amazon Prime Streaming

[Arbitrator]

Since we have a Netflix one, I think we need one for Amazon as well.

My contribution: I started watching Treme a few days ago, and I'm pretty much hooked. Already up to S1E8. The treatment of New Orleans post Katrina is amazing: the focus on this unique city's vibrant culture is depressing and heartwarming together. The music is well-selected (I saw quite a few of the players live in NOLA when I visited, and was very surprised to see them here).

I expected much more of a politics-driven show like The Wire, given that David Simon created it. But politics are almost an afterthought, with the focus more on the people and their lives. It's rare that I'll get into a character piece, much less a character piece about a city, but this has me hooked.

trickytunadicky great recommendation. Of course, I only like it because BAYOOOOOO'

 

[quirk6]

I really enjoyed The Man in the High Castle. Slow paced but engaging and well done alternate timeline story.

 

[trickytunadicky]

Definitely hit Man in the High Castle next. We also enjoyed the heck out of Hand of God. Prime streaming has a lot of older HBO shows available, and some good classic movies. I would have to look to refresh my memory of what is up there now. For something included in the Prime rate there is a lot there, so I am not complaining. And their original programming has been solid out the gate.

 

[gregkoko]

Loved Treme. Like you said, fantastic characters. Did not care much for Man in the High Castle. The main three young leads were all terrible

 

[cneville]

i'm a huge transparent fan--dark as fuck while also still being pretty funny. watched the entire first season in one sitting and would recommend it over any other online-exclusive show except maaaaaaybe oitnb.

 

[lurchingbeast]

The movie selection kind of sucks for anything released in the last 20 years. Most of the interesting shows are offered by Comcast on demand at a higher quality picture.

Prime Streaming is just a bonus to having Prime right now.

 

[Lutter]

Can't wait for the Jeremy Clarkson/James May/Richard Hammond's new car series to start off this year. I think they will pull a lot of new subscriptions (esp from the UK).

I will agree that their movie streaming selection is poor compared to the other services (I also have Hulu Plus [sans commercials] and Netflix), but we do rent everything new through there, as they tend to have the best pricing on rentals and the occasional $0.99 deal.

Also, they have all the Stargate series, which is just my sort of sci-fi cheese.

Mozart in the Jungle is also my wife's freaking favorite online series (she played cello in her high school/college orchestra, so I think there's a connection).

I don't think I'd subscribe just for their selection, but it certainly is a nice plus for my Prime sub. I think that's most peoples' opinion.

 

[mateoloco]

My five-year old daughter was sick all weekend so we binge watched Just Add Magic. I'll admit, I was entertained.

 

[mattafett]

We use it as well, have watched many of the shows talked about. The greatest thing Prime has is Prime Music.

 

[Arbitrator]

Definitely hit Man in the High Castle next.

I generally love Philip K. Dick novels and adaptations, so I watched it soon after release, and posted on it in the Netflix thread.

My thoughts, copied and pasted:

Spoiler

I love the production values. I can't remember how the book went anymore, so no comparison, but it's enjoyable, well-paced, and well-acted. However, Burn Gorman is a little too hammy as The Marshall.

~~~

Thankfully, the Marshall doesn't come back for the latter half of the season.

I like Cary Tagawa as Trade Minister Tagomi -- he captures doubt, gravitas, and guile quite well, even though he's seemingly one of the most good-hearted characters. He also makes it really apparent how flat Alexa Davalos's acting is; she looks waifish and confused, but never really understanding what's going on (or maybe that's the point).

John Smith's acting is incredible, and he's clearly the best in the room there. His arc shows the deceit and backstabbing of the Nazi nation quite clearly, and I'm really interested to see how he evolves.

I feel like the series has fallen a bit flat, all told. Some more fictional historical backstory would have been nice, rather than setting a mood and having characters stare awkwardly and pensively at each other. I don't get much out of mood storytelling.

The plotline took wayyyy too long to develop. The Nazis are planning to move on the Japanese; a higher-up Nazi gives them the H-bomb secret so they can catch up. There are political machinations within the Japanese and within the Nazis.

But, for the title: there's still no clear idea of where the films are coming from (clearly some alternate reality and/or future), no clear idea what the Man in the High Castle is doing with them, and why the Resistance believes in him so much. I am getting shades of LOST in this, because I vaguely remember the novel being unsatisfying on that front, as well. There's a possibility there is no payoff and the emphasis is all on the mood and the characters, but the actors aren't all uniformly strong enough to make me care about politics and skullduggery.

In short, it was interesting enough, but I'll need someone to convince me that Season 2 actually bears watching.

I'm going to be downloading some episodes to my Kindle for plane watching. Haven't decided if I should do Treme Season 2 or start with Transparent.

I watched the first episode of Mad Dogs. It was a chore and I won't revisit it.

 

[gregkoko]

Burn Gorman was so fucking bad. He's so good at being an asshole on shows, but he was way too cartoonish. I'm not invested in the story of Juliana, Frank, or Joe. Boring, boring, boring. Tagomi and Smith saved the show for me (as did Rudolph). My fiance wanted to watch it, so I watched. It wasn't until episode 9 (of 10) that I thought "yes I want to see the next episode." I sincerely hope Season 2 is better because I'm sure I'll have to watch it.

 

[ABSTRACTlegend]

Batman The animated Series!!!!!!!

 

[MordorMongo]

Batman The animated Series!!!!!!!

Stuff like that will make Arbitrator's nipples hard.

 

[quirk6]

Burn Gorman was so fucking bad

I'll second (or third) that. He was terrible, same as on Game of Thrones. I guess he as alright on Torchwood.

 

[harrymel]

We use it as well, have watched many of the shows talked about. The greatest thing Prime has is Prime Music.

Not for me. Found interface and selection to be mediocre at best. That said, for the right customer I could see the appeal

 

[harrymel]

Tried High Castle. Thought the writing, acting and overall production to be shit.

I liked Mad Dogs, although I wouldn't call it well done or written.

Transparent is excellent. Have season 2 in the queue.

Can't see a reason to do Netflix or restart Hulu plus (especially as an early subscriber- the addition of so many commercials is unforgivable)

 

[HeadHunter]

Any word on when Justified Season 6 will hit Prime?

 

[Lutter]

Hulu plus (especially as an early subscriber- the addition of so many commercials is unforgivable)

It's worth it with the new $11.99 "no commercials" plan. I use it a lot more since we switched to that. It actually makes their watching their massive back catalog worth your time.

 

[StarRaptor]

My opinion is overall mixed but I feel lurchingbeast hit the nail on the head with it being more of a bonus of having prime then anything else.

I think their business model of wanting to sell you things interferes with how much they offer on Prime

Rarely go I find a movie that's on Prime vs rental/buy

 

[lurchingbeast]

My opinion is overall mixed but I feel lurchingbeast hit the nail on the head with it being more of a bonus of having prime then anything else.

I think their business model of wanting to sell you things interferes with how much they offer on Prime

Rarely go I find a movie that's on Prime vs rental/buy

I don't rent movies often so I don't know; is $5.99 the going rate to rent movies at Redbox or wherever? Seems a bit much to rent on Prime.