Bert Raccoon Posted June 13 Share Posted June 13 10 hours ago, ICTChris said: I watched the three part documentary on Channel 4 The Fall: Skydive Murder Plot. People may remember the case of Emile Cilliers, who was accused of attempting to murder his wife by sabotaging her parachute before she undertook a skydive. His wife, Victoria, survived the fall and the documentary told the story of the crime and it's background. The story itself is a remarkable one - Cilliers wanted out of his marriage and also wanted money as he was in financial straits due to his profligate spending. He stood to make more than £100,000 on his wife's life insurance. Cilliers is an extremely chilling character - he never displayed open violence towards any of his partners but consistently manipulated and lied to them, displaying extreme callousness and selfishness. He was unfaithful to an almost industrial degree - he visited prostitutes, attended swingers clubs and had long term affairs behind his wife's back. He had already abandoned two children from a previous relationship and had begun the process of abadoning his children with Victoria, denying to his lover that he was the father of his new born baby. Just prior to the parachute incident, he sabotaged the gas pipes in their home, which if it had caused an explosion could have killed his wife and children. One of the many fascinating aspects of the case was the fact that the victim didn't support the prosecution and only long after his conviction in a second trial came to terms with the fact that her husband tried to kill her. The detectives investigating the case were interviewed, as was Victoria, and they spoke about the difficulties of breaking through the coercive control that Cilliers exerted on her and the hold that he had on her, mentally. Eventually, after Cilliers was jailed for 36 years, Victoria came to accept what he'd done and move on. But it was a good demonstration of a master manipulator and how when someone has a hold on you, you can't really see it. For example, during the trial, Cilliers began publishing YouTube videos of him playing his guitar, singing songs like Stand By Me by BenE King. The videos are extremely cringeworthy and bad but to the person in his grip they communicated more. The one issue I had with the documentary was the dramatisation part of it. They filmed them filming the dramatic interludes, showing the actors moving around the set and receiving instructions from the director, we also watched the real life detectives watch the actors playing them act out the scenes. It was very strange, all a bit meta. Some dramatisation is probably needed in the story but I felt it didn't land properly. The case is so remarkable that it doesn't need this and this documentary had extensive interviews with Victoria, the detectives, some of the skydivers who were there on the day, Cillier's former partner. It was a strange add-on that wasn't really needed. Also, the actor playing Cilliers was far better looking than the real life version - a minor point and all actors are usually good looking but Cilliers was a balding man in his 40s, it's more effective to see him like that to understand his manipulation. On 02/06/2024 at 10:03, Bert Raccoon said: No much point watchin it now tbh 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groundhopping Adventures Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 Very late to the party, but finally watched Changing Ends. Thought it was brilliant. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Naitch Posted June 25 Share Posted June 25 5 hours ago, Groundhopping Adventures said: Very late to the party, but finally watched Changing Ends. Thought it was brilliant. It was really good. Series 2 Is not far off either. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Naitch Posted June 28 Share Posted June 28 I Am Celine (Amazon Prime) - heartbreaking documentary following Celine after her SPS diagnosis. Really well done and doesn’t hold back in showing the day to day issues it causes her. Saw her at the Hydro a few years ago and she is sensational live. It’ll be a miracle if she’s back touring to that extent any time soon. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottsdad Posted July 5 Share Posted July 5 Rewatching season 3 of original Star Trek. It gets worse every time. Plato's Stepchildren, famous for the interracial kiss, was abysmal. Folk forget that after kissing Uhura, Kirk started whipping her. Diabolical. Utter pish. I'll leave it at least a year until I watch again. -1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stanton Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 Bottom- Hooligans Island , on Gold or Uk gold or whatever it’s called now , absolutely hilarious even the corpsing and the bits they pretended that had went wrong were great Rik Mayall is such a massive loss to the world of comedy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tamthebam Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 I like spotting Dumbarton's ground in that Tennents ad. Ooft. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimmy boo Posted July 7 Share Posted July 7 3 hours ago, tamthebam said: I like spotting Dumbarton's ground in that Tennents ad. Ooft. Still doesn't make that puddle water any more palatable. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dundeefc1783 Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 That fucking new advert for EPL with the crown signing up where we belong. Fucking ear bleeding 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coprolite Posted July 9 Share Posted July 9 Really enjoying Wimbledon so far. Haven’t seen a second of it myself but the wife is glued to it for hours. Stops her from bothering me. True public service broadcasting. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trackdaybob Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 The england vomit-a-thon on he BBC this morning 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottsdad Posted July 10 Share Posted July 10 Law & Order (not that one) on BBC4 tonight. Banned in the Uk for 30 years because it showed coppers being corrupt. Set to record. Sure I saw it once before. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scottsdad Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 FIFA World Cup Classic Matches is on channel 4 now. I'll give you one guess - just one - what "classic" match they chose. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crazy Days Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 ITV news 71 killed and hundreds injured in Gaza but first 10 minutes spent on Engerlund. They really cannot help themselves. Viva Espana 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trackdaybob Posted July 13 Share Posted July 13 2 hours ago, scottsdad said: FIFA World Cup Classic Matches is on channel 4 now. I'll give you one guess - just one - what "classic" match they chose. Which one is on next week? Oh none you say. Back to gogglebox grand designs and four in a bed etc etc etc. What a surprise 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RH33 Posted July 14 Share Posted July 14 I watched Lost Boys and Fairies. Emotional rollercoaster and P&B maybe not target audience but it was excellent. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 Four episodes into Presumed Innocent and I kind of like and hate it. It suffers from a couple of my boomer-in-waiting complaints about TV shows - perpetual mumbling and everyone in the entire show being a horrible character. Just speak properly, instead of muffling out the side of your mouth so no-one can hear you for fucks sake. Also, I just cannot believe that everyone is such an arsehole in these things. The victim has abandoned her child and (at this point) possibly conspired to have an innocent man imprisoned. The suspect is clearly a terrible, terrible person whether they did it or not, violent, obsessive, narcisstic, mysognistic - the full gamut. All the lawyers spend their time shouting "f**k off you fucking f**k" at each other, and delighting in the thought of putting a long time colleague in jail for life. The two prosecuters on the case must be among the least sympathetic, oiliest characters going. The way the District Attorney speaks would make any sane person punch him repeatedly until he shut up. Unless they transform before a jury, I doubt anyone could make a living as a lawyer being like that. The plot is very twisty, lots is going on and it is compelling but I'm halfway through and there's been ridiculous twists and turns. I get the feeling that it's going to proceed on this basis and by the end who knows what's going to happen. Aliens attack the courtroom as the verdict given? Jake Gylenhaal convicted but escapes from prison to meet up with Caroline, who actually survived and swapped her body for a Jane Doe in a skinsuit and they live out their lives in Mexico? Having said that, I do want to keep wathcing it, it's like that review a critic did of a Robert Ludlum novel - "this is a terrible novel, it is so terrible I stayed up all night to finish it". The cast are all really good - no-one does creepy like Jake Gylenhaal, you could watch Bill Camp read the shipping report and it would be gripping, Peter Saarsgard is very watchable, if unlikeable, Ruth Negga is excellent as the jilted wife, facing up to her situation ina kind of wide eyed way, but with a hint of something hidden underneath. It's very well shot, looks great, seems to really capture the feeling of Chicago. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boo Khaki Posted July 25 Share Posted July 25 On 01/06/2024 at 20:49, ICTChris said: Sarah and Jgoy are probably the most awkward of the couples. She refers to her difficulty trusting partners and is clearly uncomfortable with the physical attention she gets from Jgoy as soon as she arrives. He obviously thinks he is being a loving partner by touching her, having his arm round her, kissing her but she finds it too much. It's a clear indiciation of the limits of online only interaction - if they had met physically they'd be able to build it up slowly and feel each other out (steady!) but she lands after a 14 hour flight and has this younger guy all over her like a 1970s BBC presenter. Later, it gets worse as he tries to get her to wear revealing clothing she doesn't want to and then he and his mate have utterly cringe inducing 'banter' at a meal. Forget generational, geographic, cultural, language barriers, their chat is truly awful and I can't imagine a bigger woman-repellent. I can't repeat it on here, a family site, but it's awful. She is clearly horrified and as the episode ends is preparing to scarper from his flat to a hotel. Mrs Khaki's verdict on this pair was "She's clearly problematic, and he just wants his hole". No idea why she's never forged a career as a TV Critic 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Theroadlesstravelled Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 I've been watching through Frasier and I've thought about it a lot. Frasier couldn't have afforded his lavish lifestyle on a radio presenters salary. Roz Doyle aged like a fine wine. She was properly hot around the 7th season onwards. The ending kinda sucked. They binned the Lana story arc too quickly. She should have come back in for Season 11 instead of Charlotte. Any episode that features any one of Daphne's family is atrocious and can be skipped. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ICTChris Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 (edited) 1 hour ago, Theroadlesstravelled said: I've been watching through Frasier and I've thought about it a lot. Frasier couldn't have afforded his lavish lifestyle on a radio presenters salary. Roz Doyle aged like a fine wine. She was properly hot around the 7th season onwards. The ending kinda sucked. They binned the Lana story arc too quickly. She should have come back in for Season 11 instead of Charlotte. Any episode that features any one of Daphne's family is atrocious and can be skipped. He was previously a practicing psychiatrist so maybe made enough money from that to buy the apartment outright. Also, back in the day a radio presenter like Frasier could probably command a pretty good salary. Frasier must be my favourite comedy programme, absolutely brilliant, perfectly written and acted. Agree that Daphne’s family episodes are the weak link. ETA - He seemed to spend most of his time in Boston boozing in a bar rather than doing psychiatry though. Edited July 26 by ICTChris 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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