Streaming Recommendations (Netflix, HBO, Amazon, etc.)

Quote: zippyboy

Scientology is not a religion in that there is no deity and there is no praying. I have read Going Clear by Lawrence Wright twice now and the HBO documentary of the same name just can't possibly get into the depth that the book does.

WHERE IS SHELLY MISCAVIDGE?

We watched what was apparently the final episode last night on the Scientology series, it is shocking how much they are able to get away with. I more than ever want their exorbitant priviledge of tax exempt taken from these organizations. I still support everyones right to believe in a religion of their choice, but there is no reason we as taxpayers should be forced to subsidize their twisted and erroneous mindsets.

I was really surprised after Leah Rimini's series on Scientology, there is an episode about Jehovah witnesses to have come forward to ask for her help in trying to fix the weird family separation scheme going on with that cult. People's lives and the lives of their family's are ruined by these predatory cults masking as religion.

Quote: terapined

Quote: Gandler

I watched The Serpent (2021) on Netflix this weekend. It was extremely interesting, but not very good. By that I mean the subject matter was intriguing, but as a drama it kind of was drawn out (There are 8 episodes). And, I realize that so much about Charles Sobhraj is still not known so doing a documentary would be a challenge and it makes sense to do a drama where you can use creative license. I found the early episodes to be much more enjoyable, by the end it felt drawn out and bounced around (constantly shifting time periods and locations).

Basically its about Charles Sobhraj, who would specialize in killing travelers in the mid 1970s, especially hippies and people traveling or exploring for long periods of time in Asia (the type of people who could go missing for long periods without drawing alarm), and stealing from them to fund his lifestyle (including passports and IDs which he would then use to move around under different names and continue the cycle). He and his girlfriend would gain the trust of people while they were in a foreign area and socialize with the for some days and then either drug them or kill them in secluded areas (in some cases they would just drug and rob).

He ended up in jail in India where he got out in the 90s, and could have stayed free, but he decided to return to Nepal in 2003 to visit, which is one of the only countries with a still active warrant against him, police found him after he published some photos in the local paper while there, he was arrested while gambling at a very busy casino, and still remains in prison in Nepal today (life sentence). Why he took this bizarre risk to return to the one country that could arrest him in such a public way is unknown, I would guess it was some twisted mental flex to show that he would not actually be arrested and could continue to get away with whatever he wanted (which if that was his plan, obviously he failed).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Serpent_(TV_series)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Sobhraj

I read about this a long time ago
Serpentine (1979) by Thomas Thompson
I remember it was a real good book
One of those you could not put down
I'll have to get netflix again and watch this

You would probably like it. Don't expect it to be a dramatic masterpiece, its not, and its quite strange and oddly put together in parts (the actors are fine, my issue is more so with the overall design choices, lots of unnecessary time jumps constantly, very nonlinear, honestly it would have been far better to just play it out in order, I don't know what they were going for with all of the jumping around in time, often for no logical or story reason that I could see).

But, I got hooked because of the information, its a very interesting story to see how all of the characters interacted, and one that I knew very little about. I never read the book, but that sounds like it would be interesting (a book from not long after his first sentencing, or I guess technically his second since he escaped earlier in life from the gem robbery conviction).

For serial killers he was interesting, because he seemed to kill purely for material gain, it did not strike me that he had a desire to kill for the sake of killing (like most serial killers seem to kill just because they have an impulse, taking nothing of value or for no personal gain), but he also had no reservations about it, he would kill, get valuables, cash, checks, and passports (which he could then use to get more cash from obtained checks) and repeat. For example in areas where killing was not necessary (where he could just drug somebody to take what was needed) he would, but in areas where killing was necessary he would have no issue. My impression of him was that he was a narcissist who felt entitled to live how he wanted, and he had no issues to do anything to continue this goal.
I know in later interviews he would make obscure references about "Western Imperialism", and how he was trying to balance out the world from rich travelers through Asia or something, but this seems to be just self-importance statements to maybe self-justify about what is clearly just manipulating and killing easy targets for their valuables.

Quote: petroglyph

there is an episode about Jehovah witnesses.

I knew a woman who was in that years ago and it took her forever get out of their clutches. They ran her life, even her sex life. I think she finally got away from them by becoming addicted to heroin for a short time. They threw up their hands in disgust at her and left her alone.

Quote: Evenbob

I knew a woman who was in that years ago and it took her forever get out of their clutches. They ran her life, even her sex life. I think she finally got away from them by becoming addicted to heroin for a short time. They threw up their hands in disgust at her and left her alone.

One woman on the Leah Remini Scientology series, intentionally wrecked her car [minor fender bender] got out of the car, and took off all of her clothes and started walking. When the medic got to her he asked her why? She said it is the only way I could think of to get anyone to pay attention to what is going on. Pretty ingenious. I think she was doing the same thing trying to get out of the church by attracting to much attention.

Remini I think, started this mission because she believes they are holding her friend in seclusion for over ten years now, and no one has seen her.

Quote: petroglyph

One woman on the Leah Remini Scientology series, intentionally wrecked her car

The woman I knew who started using heroin did it because Jehovah's Witnesses totally against drugs of any kind and to them heroin is like shooting the devil into your body. So they just gave up on her as a lost cause. It was easy for her to get the heroin because her husband was a severely wounded Vietnam vet and was always doing drugs to relieve the pain.

Quote: Evenbob

The woman I knew who started using heroin did it because Jehovah's Witnesses totally against drugs of any kind and to them heroin is like shooting the devil and your body. So they just gave up on her as a lost cause. It was easy for her to get the heroin because her husband was a severely wounded Vietnam vet and was always doing drugs to relieve the pain.

Some of the members interviewed have been with the cult almost 40 years, many over 20 years. They ran the numbers and figured they were making about 39 dollars per week. Members are going around stealing soap and food because they can't afford to buy it.

Not enough money for dope. These cretins make Osho seem like Robinhood.

I started watching the movie Coming 2 America this morning on Netflix. Maybe the worst movie that I have seen in 20 years.

Quote: DRich

I started watching the movie Coming 2 America this morning on Netflix.

It's on Amazon Prime.

Interestingly enough the sequal has a more family friendly rating than the original 33 years ago. Some reviews that I have read said the sequal was just mean and crude.

R 1988 ‧ Comedy/Romance
PG-13 2021 ‧ Comedy/Rom-com

Quote: Pacomartin

It's on Amazon Prime.

Interestingly enough the sequal has a more family friendly rating than the original 33 years ago. Some reviews that I have read said the sequal was just mean and crude.

R 1988 ‧ Comedy/Romance
PG-13 2021 ‧ Comedy/Rom-com

Yes, you are correct it was on Amazon.

The Adventures of Merlin, BBC, 2008 to 2012. I lasted about 20 minutes into
the first episode. Just awful. This review sums it up.

"Terrible story telling, dismal dialogues and even worse actors.
This series is simply dismal. The acting is terrible, the stories are obvious, shallow and predictable and the dialogues are even worse. They simply randomly jump from one scene to the other without any sort of story-arc that combines all these little "snipplets" to an actual story."