What Are Travis and Elaine Watching?

Three and done!
We have 2 perfect short binges this week, a true-crime drama, Des, and a remake of a classic film from a classic novel, Black Narcissus. Both are intense dramas with strong performances, dark humor touches.
Des - A friendly serial killer
Now playing on AMC+ with Prime or Sundance Now with Prime, Des is a three-part true story based on the book Killing for Company by Brian Masters.
It stars David Tennet, Daniel Mays, and Jason Watkins.
In 1983 Scottish serial killer Dennis Nilsen is arrested after the discovery of human remains that were blocking a drain near his London home. Ironically, the plumbing complaints came from Nilsen himself! (and other tenants.) Upon opening a drain cover at the side of the house, the plumber discovered the drain was packed with a flesh-like substance and numerous small bones of unknown origin. Once the police determined the "flesh-like" substance was, in fact, human flesh, and the little bones were, in fact, human bones, the police questioned Dennis Nilson, who nonchalantly confessed.
Chameleon actor David Tennant is chilling and kinda funny as the matter-of-fact Nilson.
Nilson was one of the most infamous serial killers in UK history. known as the ‘kindly killer.' A former cop who spent 5 years murdering young men he met on the streets of Soho from 1978 to 1983. His victims were often homeless or drug-addicted and often grateful for this stranger’s apparent generosity. Nilsen had murdered a total of fifteen men over a period of five years, making him Britain’s most prolific serial killer of the time.
DCI Peter Jay, a homicide detective, is played by Daniel Mays, who is becoming one of our favs. Keep an eye on Daniel Mays; we think he's about to break out!
Black Narcissus
Currently showing (free) on the FX site and available on FX and HULU, Black Narcissus is a 3 part series with a long pedigree. The source material is the controversial 1939 novel by Rumer Godden and adapted by British TV writer Amanda Coe. The new version also sits in the shadow of the classic version by Michael Powell and starring Deborah Kerr, Flora Robson, Kathleen Byron, David Farrar, Sabu, and a very young Jean Simmons
The new version is more explicit than the 1947 film but sticks close to the original. It stars Gemma Arterton, Alessandro Nivola, Aisling Franciosi, Jim Broadbent and Diana Rigg in her final TV role. Travis likes the limited series better. Elaine prefers the film. Let us know what you think in our Facebook group!

Today we're going to talk about two excellent shows currently showing on Netflix, one everyone is talking about and the other not so much: The Queens Gambit and The Barrier.
We hope by the time you listen to this, our great national nightmare is over, but for now, check our webpage for a sample of what went on here on Sunday, 11/01/2020. Margot and Kenny had their first Halloween!
Margot as a Unicorn! Kenny as Sweet Pea! See pix on our website!

We have a new Facebook group! On a whim, Elaine decided to create a Facebook group for this podcast. Within an hour, we had 50 very active users and growing fast! Thank you to everyone who joined and supports our show! If you want to get in on the fun, here's a link:
Travis and Elaine Chat Group
Can't wait to see you there.
Lots of people in our group were talking about The Queen's Gambit on Netflix. We'd already watched the pilot on Friday night; we binged the rest on Saturday but saved the finale for Sunday. It took 27 years to finally get Walter Tevis’ 1983 novel to the screen. Originally intended to be a feature film, Heath Ledger was attached to direct in 2008, and Ellen Page was courted to star. We get into the long strange trip to Netflix, plus the exceptional cast. Currently, The Queen's Gambit is the #1 series on Netflix. Maybe, it was worth the wait.
If you're interested in the novel, we have links on our website.

The Outstanding Cast
Led by a star-making performance by Anya Taylor-Joy is a uniquely quiet tale of isolation, genius, and how one girl navigates the world. With the exception of the episodes where her character Beth Harmon is a kid, Taylor-Joy is essentially in every scene. We knew her from The Witch but didn't even recognize her as Casey Cooke from Split and Glass the two movies that followed one of Elaine's favorite movies. Unbreakable. See pix on our webpage
The supporting cast is solid. Standouts were Bill Camp, Marielle Heller and Thomas Brodie-Sangster. More about them in the episode.
For more about the fashion and music in the Queen's Gambit check our webpage
The Barrier The Barrier - La valla (original title) is a Spanish series currently airing. one episode a week on Netflix. Luckily, if you haven't started watching yet, half the episodes are already up for binging. Unbelievably, this series was created and filmed before the pandemic because the parallels are stunning. Yeah, it's another near-future dystopian drama, but it's better and more realistic than most. The cast, although mostly unknown to American viewers includes the remarkable real-life mother and daughter, Olivia Molina and Ángela Molina.

Hang in there, everybody.
Cya on Facebook! Travis and Elaine Chat Group

This week we talk about the two-part series The Comey Rule and Season 4 of Fargo!
But first...
Get your flu shot! We did.

it is more important than ever to get your flu shot. We got ours last week. If you get your shot at CVS Pharmacy in Target, they will give you $5 in store credit at Target.
Fargo
Fargo is back for Season 4. FX dropped the first two episodes on Sunday. This year, the story takes place in 1950 Kansas City. It stars Chris Rock, Jason Schwartzman as the heads of rival Italian American and African American crime families and a stellar supporting cast.
Jessie Buckley
Ben Whishaw
Jack Huston
Glynn Turman
Timothy Olyphant
We go into depth about the supporting cast, with special attention to Salvatore Esposito who we have been huge fans of for years.
Catch it on FX, or Hulu (the day after.)
The Comey Rule
This two-night event is a must-see. It lays out the James Comey (former director of the FBI) and Donald Trump story concisely. You can watch it now in its entirety on Showtime or download the app for your free trial.
Jeff Daniels leads the cast as James Comey, Holly Hunter as Sally Yates, Michael Kelly as Andrew McCabe, and Brendan Gleeson as Donald Trump. We loved Gleeson's performance but thought the makeup department toned it down a little.
Exciting news!

Later this Amazon will be releasing the new Borat movie.... stay tuned!
Photo: Jason Merritt/FilmMagic

Check our website for lots of pix, vids and extras!
This week, Elaine kicks off the show talking about her first Zoom Baby Shower!
And now back to TV....

Just like everybody else, we surf Netflix and other apps to see what's trending. We noticed the doc series Fear City: New York vs The Mafia was trending at #2 so we gave it a shot. Listen to this episode to hear what we thought before (or after) you watch.
In talking about Fear City, we remembered one of our favorite docs ever and definitely one to watch, The Seven Five. We watched it a few years ago on Netflix but it's currently available on Amazon Prime

We'll take a dirty cop doc any day
The 75th Police Precinct in Brooklyn, NY was the deadliest precinct in the country. From 1982-1992 Officer Mike Dowd led a group of corrupt policemen on their own criminal spree.
Dowd & his partner Ken Eurell eventually began working with drug kingpin Adam Diaz.
Dowd & Diaz spent time in prison ( 12 and 8 years respectively) while Ken Eurell did 2 months. (no spolier?)
Where are they now?

Since their release from prison, pals in crime, Dowd & Diaz have partnered in a line of cigars called The Seven Five.
Mike
Dowd has a website where he proudly displays pictures from podcast appearances with the likes of Joe Rogen , the ever obnoxious Nick Di Paulo, sporting Dowd 75 teeshirts, needless to say, sold on his website.
He teases his Seven Five tanks and tees using his daughter in law's cleavage. And, almost needless to say, he is a big Trump supporter with a special thing for Tomi Lahren, Candace Owens and Don Jr but hasn't figured out that Trump doesn't use the @POTUS account. Oh, and he still hasn't gotten over Hillary.
Adam
Diaz is seeking financing for a film about himself, The King Of Brooklyn. Based on this trailer, we wish him good luck with that! 😨
But, his backstory, not explored in The Seven Five is one we'd love to see on film! In the mean time he insists his movie is "coming fckn soon....its in the makings ,youll see the 1st clip here on this channel, go buy our cigars at cigars75.com peace."

Kenny
Eurell wrote a book, sells swag and is currently putting together a podcast. which he is asking Twitter followers to help him name. Somehow, The Land of Fuck hasn't made his list.
Maybe because that's reserved for the site where he sells his COVID 19 masks!

Yet, another project about Charles Manson? Really?

There has been over 25 films about Charles Manson & the family. Twenty-five! So does Helter Skelter: An American Myth a new documentary on Epix have anything new to offer? Absolutely! There's rarely seen footage, interviews with former Mason followers and many who were in the scene and knew "The Family."
We've only seen 2 episodes, but I have a feeling we'll be talking a lot more about this one.

*Note- we switched out episodes to bring you the Perry Mason finale episode last week. So this is actually ep 19. Sorry for any confusion.

For video clips, trailers and full movies, plus lot's of extras, check us out at travisandelaine.com.
After taking the week off for Elaine's graduation, we're back! We talk about being a part of the virtual class of 2020 and then get into what we have been watching in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd.
Dozens of movies and series under the BLM umbrella are being offered, free, across streaming services. See below for an extensive (but partial) list.

The Movies and Series We Watched This Week

Selma:
Dir: Ava DuVernay
The Oscar winning song from Selma, Glory: John Legend and Common perform at the Academy Awards.
13th
The film was written by Ava DuVernay, who wrote and directed Selma (2014), and Spencer Averick. Averick also edited the film. .
You can watch on Netflix or via Youtube.
Just Mercy
Dir: Destin Daniel Cretton

Click through and choose RENT- the rental amount is $0
The movie is also available via most streaming platforms/cable companies.
LA92
Dir: Daniel Lindsay, T.J. Martin
No V.O., no commentary, no actors. LA92 is simply a compilation of footage and interviews from the riots in Los Angeles.
Becoming
Dir: Nadia Hallgren
An intimate, revealing, uplifting and inspiring look at the life of former First Lady, Michelle Obama.
Free on Netflix.
Malcolm X and Do The Right Thing
Dir: Spike Lee
If you are new to Spike's movies, we'd suggest you start with She's Gotta Have It and School Daze and work your way through his incomparable body of work.
Malcolm X is free on Netflix and Do The Right This available for rental on Prime at a reduced price of $2.99
Da 5 Bloods
Dir: Spike Lee
This week Spike Lee dropped his latest, Da 5 Bloods on Netflix.
8:46 - Dave Chappelle
The internet has been buzzing all week about the video comedian, Dave Chappelle dropped on Youtube. If you still haven't seen it, check it out below.
Our own Johnny Stromboli did a cool little cover of Little Boxes this week. Check it.
We'll be dropping more Shorties soon!