ASTRO On Demand

I must confess that all this while, I had been taking it for granted. I was flipping the channels and Netflix when I accidentally pressed the VOD button on my ASTRO remote. Then I learned that the new WestWorld season and episodes were out. And to my surprise, they were free and available through the box, via the internet. And they were the uedited US versions.

More exploration and then I learned that the fifth season of “Silicon Valley” was also available. Far out!

I was done with the WestWorld - only 2 episodes released so far - and was catching up on Silicon Valley. The WestWorld episodes were pretty heavy stuff though, with revelation aplenty. Too much for casual viewing ....

Anyway, the point of this post was clearly ASTRO offered a lot more that met the eyes through their “on demand” service. Most of the movies needed paying though and selection were pretty limited. But when it came to TV series, they were free, up to date and were the US versions. Not to be missed!

Danger Will Robinson

I had been watching the trailer for quite some time and when it finally came out today, I watched ethos first couple of episodes straight up.

"Lost in Space" received a Netflix reboot and the story was quite compelling. The Family Robinson was there of course - to keep the old nostalgic storyline going - although the premise was different.

Another bit that got me was one of the daughters was clearly not theirs. Hollywood wanted to keep the diversity thing going on I guess. I found that rather distracting.

Clearly Netflix spent a ton of money on this. The acting was solid, the special effect wouldn't be out of place in a mobile blockbuster. Now, the story arch must meet expectation. And expectations were pretty high ...

I watched 3 episodes so far. Another 7 to go for the season ...

Back to Hawkins

Stranger Things was back for the second season and this time around the plot were more personal rather than the spectacular. My boys especially connected to the coming-of-age perspective of the plot line and could not stop watching the episodes. They ended up watching the season with Anita and finished them before I could really start.

The Netflix episodes also carried a companion documentary series - Beyond Stranger Things - featuring the cast, which discussed the plot line in greater details while sharing some anecdotes while filming.

Early 80s in the US had always had this attraction to them. There was the mix of modern as well as the innocent. When I thought about the early 80s, I remembered the LA Olympics. One of my neighbour was studying in the US at the time and I kept hearing the cool things in the US from her. Another find memory was the cassettes album she brought from there. There were no CDs back then. MTV and video music were just bring introduced. And then there was Michael Jackson ...

Watching Stranger Things brought some of those memories back. Kinda a trip back to those innocent times. Truth be told, I was looking forward for the coming season. The series ended in a really good finale but with enough of a hint that mayhem would be just around the corner. Until the next season ...

The Discovery

Anita and I had been a big fan of Voyager. Last year, when we got Netflix installed, we managed to get through the whole series again. We went through pretty much all the episodes, which brought us the memories of staying in England when the series were first aired.

I was also into The Next Generations and Deep Space Nine. Anita wasn’t much. So, when the latest instalment of the Star Trek franchise was released, we got curious. We soon learned that Michele Yeoh would star, but it turned out that it was more of a special guess as the season developed.

After watching three episodes, we were hooked. We were not initially very keen on the characters but soon understood their motivations and circumstance. It would make for a great series I was sure. Now, we couldn’t wait for the weekly episodes ...

Done with Season One

I had the chance to watch Westworld when it was beamed on Astro earlier this year. But I got bored after a couple of episodes. Then, I read a review on YouTube about how good the series was and decided to watch the pilot again.

But this time I downloaded the episode on iTunes using my US account. I got the uncensored episodes and it was a lot different from the one I remembered watching on the local TV.

There were nudity and swearing aplenty - some of which were just plain unnecessary. But some of the dialogue and scene which were cut out were needed to move the plot along. So, watching it the second time around really gave a clear perspective of what was going on.

After watching all 10 episodes, I begin to appreciate just what the buzz was all about. Definitely a fascinating series with superb acting. Both Anthony Hopkins and Thandie Newton definitely gave masterclasses. Haunting soundtrack to boot - who could forget "No Surprises" playing on the background at the saloon. Great stuff.

And the plot twists .... they all made sense in the end. Great television and I couldn't wait for the second season.