Amazon Prime Network

[so sorry]

Do we have a thread dedicated to shows exclusive to Amazon Prime? Well we do now...



Jim Halpert is Jack Ryan, 10 episode series on Amazon Prime

No word yet on the casting of Dwight Schrute as John Clark.

[Bloo]

there is a wealth of Jack Ryan stories they can mine for this, but they seem determined to set it in present day. They need to take a cue from the Americans and set it in the 80s.

[TheBaxter]

Clear and Present Dunder











Mifflin.

[Fievel]

Anyone watch The Man in the High Castle?
Holy shit this is a good show!

[so sorry]

Anyone watch The Man in the High Castle?
Holy shit this is a good show!

Is that Amazon Prime? I know its on a service that I don't get. I've heard good things from a friend of mine who's watching. I kind of tune out shows that I know I can't watch.

[Fievel]

Yes, it's on Prime...... that's why I posted it in this thread.....
I never read the original story, but the series is fascinating (Japan and Germany win WWII and divide the USA). I'm a sucker for alternate history stories and this show does it well. How well? It allowed me to empathize, to a certain degree, with the American Nazis of the story.

[so sorry]

So this Jack Ryan series on Amazon Prime... its an 8 episode season, not totally an origin story for the character per se, but we do start with a young Jack Ryan in his early days with the CIA. This series chronicles his first big case as he is directly responsible for finding and tracking a Bin Laden level terrorist, bent on enacting revenge on Western Society for killing his parents when he was a child. The series also introduces Jack's boss, James Greer, as a formerly disgraced/"broken" CIA operative. Of course, that role was played by James Earl Jones in the movies, this is a MUCH different character.

I'm 6 episodes in, and I can already voice my opinion of this show despite not seeing the ending. This is an R-Rated version of 24. The main difference is there is no CTU-mole (yet). Its watchable, but with just as many groan-worthy impossible scenarios as 24 had. Which is ultimately the most disappointing thing for me. I would have hoped a Tom Clancy series would be more realistic. I guess more realistic is just more boring. The speed at which Jack and crew gets around the world, finding literally a single person in a vast country in no time... it rivals the way characters move around in the GoT show.

That said, I'll probably tune in for the second season just to see if there's any improvement.


PS there are PLENTY of times that I couldn't help but see "Jim Halpert" on the screen. I guess if you play a role for a decade, this is bound to happen.

[TheBaxter]

i found the Jack Ryan series pretty underwhelming too. it's definitely more realistic and grounded than 24 or Homeland (not that that's saying much) and i didn't really have a problem with the travel aspect, unlike GoT this takes place in a world with jet airplanes that can get you half way around the world in a few hours, and with the US military at their disposal that shouldn't be a problem when there are thousands of lives at risk. i thought the scene of him getting pulled away from a cocktail party in a helicopter ("i work in logistics") was pretty funny. Jim Halpert was pretty decent as Jack Ryan though, i had less problem with Office flashbacks, probably since that show's been off the air long enough now. he's definitely put in the work at the gym, i guess he saw how jacked his wife got for that Tom Cruise film and figured he better pick up his game or he'd be single again in no time.

mostly, i just found the whole "muslim terrorist plotting the next 9/11-scale attack" storyline to be pretty tired, that whole muslim terrorist genre is pretty much played out by now. homeland and 24 and a billion or so other tv shows and movies have been there/done that, and it doesn't add anything particularly new or interesting enough to justify it or differentiate it. it starts to feel uncomfortable and vaguely racist after a while. if they wanted to be realistic, they'd just have a random jihadist who was radicalized by internet propaganda blow up a shopping mall or something; they don't do these kinds of elaborate dr. evil plots in real life. otherwise, find a new villain, there are plenty of other groups around the world who want to kill us.

on a related note, i started watching that Enemy Within series on NBC with the girl who played Dexter's sister. in that show, the main villain seems to be Russian, so at least they're keeping up with the times.

[Fievel]

It took me an episode today stop seeing Jim onscreen. I found the series much more entertaining than I had presumed it would be - mostly due to the notion of trying to see Krasinski as anyone other than Jim Halpert. I actually went in to it finding the notion of Krasinski playing a badass to be insulting, but was eventually sold.

It's not Clancy, but rather a corporate mixing of Clancy, 24, and the Bourne series. And I was fine with that.

[TheBaxter]

It took me an episode today stop seeing Jim onscreen. I found the series much more entertaining than I had presumed it would be - mostly due to the notion of trying to see Krasinski as anyone other than Jim Halpert. I actually went in to it finding the notion of Krasinski playing a badass to be insulting, but was eventually sold.

that's the thing though, Jack Ryan isn't supposed to be this huge action figure, he's basically an everyman/office schlub who gets pulled unwillingly into field ops and turns out to be kind of a badass. casting krasinski is almost typecasting. it's definitely more suitable casting than harrison ford was.

[so sorry]

It took me an episode today stop seeing Jim onscreen. I found the series much more entertaining than I had presumed it would be - mostly due to the notion of trying to see Krasinski as anyone other than Jim Halpert. I actually went in to it finding the notion of Krasinski playing a badass to be insulting, but was eventually sold.

that's the thing though, Jack Ryan isn't supposed to be this huge action figure, he's basically an everyman/office schlub who gets pulled unwillingly into field ops and turns out to be kind of a badass. casting krasinski is almost typecasting. it's definitely more suitable casting than harrison ford was.

I thought Harrison Ford was the epitome of the book version of Jack Ryan, just on the older side (although I wonder how much older Ford was than Kranzinski when he first played Ryan). He wasn't an action star at all at that point in his career (if he ever was one to begin with?). I agree that Kranzinski may fit that mold too (although he's now all beefed up underneath), but I still couldn't shake The Office vibe I got from him, but that's my own hang up (I watched the Office religiously, and its now back on syndication and I find myself once again watching it). At least in that 13 Hours movie he was in, he was all scruffy beard/hired gun looking, not buttoned up shirt and tie guy.

[TheBaxter]

It took me an episode today stop seeing Jim onscreen. I found the series much more entertaining than I had presumed it would be - mostly due to the notion of trying to see Krasinski as anyone other than Jim Halpert. I actually went in to it finding the notion of Krasinski playing a badass to be insulting, but was eventually sold.

that's the thing though, Jack Ryan isn't supposed to be this huge action figure, he's basically an everyman/office schlub who gets pulled unwillingly into field ops and turns out to be kind of a badass. casting krasinski is almost typecasting. it's definitely more suitable casting than harrison ford was.

I thought Harrison Ford was the epitome of the book version of Jack Ryan, just on the older side (although I wonder how much older Ford was than Kranzinski when he first played Ryan). He wasn't an action star at all at that point in his career (if he ever was one to begin with?). I agree that Kranzinski may fit that mold too (although he's now all beefed up underneath), but I still couldn't shake The Office vibe I got from him, but that's my own hang up (I watched the Office religiously, and its now back on syndication and I find myself once again watching it). At least in that 13 Hours movie he was in, he was all scruffy beard/hired gun looking, not buttoned up shirt and tie guy.

harrison ford was han solo and indiana jones long before he was jack ryan. not an action star in the vein of stallone or schwarzenegger, which he never was, but he launched his career on action-y roles. the baggage he brings to the role of jack ryan, after already seeing him as solo or indiana jones, is a lot more of a badass persona than krasinski from the office, or alec baldwin, or pre-batfleck affleck. that office baggage could actually help give krasinski the nerd-cred for the part, it's hard to see harrison ford as any degree of nerd.

i'm not saying harrison ford was bad in the part or anything, i'm just saying by the very nature of the actor and his previous roles it puts the role into a more action-y context than a brainier one, which seems further from the book version, whereas krasinski's office background automatically gives him a head start on the nerdy side. so when jim halpert turns out to be a buffed-up action stud in the field it's appropriately surprising. also, i haven't really watched the office since it went off the air, so it's easier for me to put that character out of my head.

[Peven]

i think you are suffering from limited perspective. go bck and check Ford's filmogrpahy leading up to playing Ryan. he had done big movies like "Mosquito Coast", Regarding Henry", "Working Girl", "Presumed Innocent", and "Frantic", establishing himself as more mature than an "action star" but an actor who could handle meaty dramatic roles.

[TheBaxter]

i think you are suffering from limited perspective. go bck and check Ford's filmogrpahy leading up to playing Ryan. he had done big movies like "Mosquito Coast", Regarding Henry", "Working Girl", "Presumed Innocent", and "Frantic", establishing himself as more mature than an "action star" but an actor who could handle meaty dramatic roles.

no, the film viewing audience suffers from limited perspective. all the people who watched those films listed above combined wouldn't add up to the number of people who saw him and remember him primarily as han solo and/or indiana jones. he's done plenty of non-action work, of course. but most people, going into an action spy-thriller jack ryan movie, are going to have a harder time overlooking the two most iconic roles of his life in that role, than they would his roles as a head trauma patient or melanie griffith's boyfriend.

[so sorry]

Next Amazon Series on my list (hasn't come out yet)

[Peven]

Next Amazon Series on my list (hasn't come out yet)

that looks pretty fun, but THIS is the Amazon Prime show I am looking forward to most, the first season was a fantastic surprise, so much better than I had hoped, and the trailer for the second season portends spooonfuls of fun

[Ribbons]

My only problem is the lack of SPOOOOOOOOOOON

[so sorry]

Next Amazon Series on my list (hasn't come out yet)

So I finished this series yesterday, anyone else catch it?

I'm pretty disappointed, I thought the premise was a good one. Unfortunately it was bland, formulaic, and frankly felt like the plot was writing by a 12 year old. I know it was Neil Gaimen and Terry whats-his-name's book, but man, really really boring. Maybe I'm not "British" enough to get any of the humor. The good thing is it was short, only 6 episodes. And it made me want to go back and watch Time Bandits, which I was kinda reminded of a few times while watching this.


I don't recommend...

[so sorry]

I'm watching The Lighthouse on Prime right now (not quite finished, but couldn't wait to mention it here).

This is a really, really interesting movie. Moody as hell, crazytown too. I had to turn on the subtitles because I honestly couldn't understand a word William Defoe was saying. As I'm reading along, I wondered why they thought anyone would be able to follow his dialogue without the subtitles on.

Like I said, I'm not done, but it is a good movie, check it out.