Sulphur on 31/12/2019 at 14:39
Well, that's the first time I've seen someone call Fleabag 'hyped'. It's not a show that should be hyped, it's not event TV, and I feel sad that that colours expectations.
What it is, is a brutally honest character study with one over-arching plot twist in the first season that is as inevitable as it is obvious, and yet... it's in service of what the show's about: every time you fuck something up because you can't help yourself, it has a cost, both to the world around you, and to you personally. It's about reconciling yourself with that cost before it's too late, and I don't think that's tropey at all. Human nature is messy and complicated, and so is the show. It's acerbic and funny and smart, but also has heart. That should be enough. I think it is enough.
The fourth wall stuff? I guess it should have gotten old. But it's silly and also opens a window into Fleabag's head - and I like her despite how much of a dumpster fire she is, so I didn't mind. Not one whit.
Meanwhile, yes, The Expanse is solid yet again. S4 didn't wow me, but it puts in the work to make a show that's smart - dependably so - and filled with a beautiful balance of plot machinations and character-driven crises. I actually felt this season threw in every sci-fi trope it could think of, but tropes aren't bad if they're handled well. And outside the oddly out of place antagonist with questionable (or at least, very thinly sketched) motivation for his OTT violent scheming, the tropes served the story and gave it momentum. Yup, it's still the best sci-fi show in recent history (BSG lost out to it the moment S2 blew up like a supernova), and it even ended up better than BSG's painfully contrived third season that dealt with similar themes.
And yeah, Amos is the show's MVP. It's amazing they managed to make him a fun (and interesting!) character when I thought he was essentially a walking personality vacuum in S1.
rachel on 31/12/2019 at 15:10
I know right? It's such a great variation on the overused "dumb muscle" character...
Re: Fleabag, yeah, I dunno. Everyone around me was raving about it. I might have been a bit harsh in my words, if the show works for you that's cool! Maybe I'll give it another go some day.
SubJeff on 1/1/2020 at 01:27
Yeah, Expanse was good and Amis was my fav. James and Alex have little personality imho. Naomi does but my favs are Drummer and Ashford.
Finished Mrs Maisel now. It's so well put together.
Started Jack Ryan. Far better than I expected but not Homeland territory quality, sadly.
rachel on 1/1/2020 at 11:02
Quote Posted by SubJeff
Yeah, Expanse was good and Amis was my fav. James and Alex have little personality imho. Naomi does but my favs are Drummer and Ashford.
Finished Mrs Maisel now. It's so well put together.
Started Jack Ryan. Far better than I expected but not Homeland territory quality, sadly.
I really like the Drummer/Ashford dynamic too, and the show really nailed Belter culture.
Same opinion re: Jack Ryan... I went in admittedly with low expectations. It's surprisingly sort of okay but it doesn't really push itself to be great.
Lucky Hand of Glory on 4/1/2020 at 15:00
I've just started Fleabag, its really funny.
Started Stranger Things; I think Wynona Ryder is completely miscast, shes too pretty to be a crazy cat lady trailer park-type mom :rolleyes:
I know im late to the party but have started watching Girls - holly chit, this is a good show, very funny, Lena Dunham is an amazingly talented human being, and I hear she's living in Wales now, lol.
Finally, have been binge watching Judge Judy - there is something about a powerful woman giving people shit about being liars and stupid that I find very satisfying, prob cuz I deal with such all day at work (said in Thief guard voice, 'so stupid, so incompetent...'):ebil:
Good suggestions in this thread - will check out Witcher and Happy Death Day original:thumb: Thanks!!
SubJeff on 7/1/2020 at 23:35
Just done Jack Ryan. Not top tier quality but I enjoyed it and would watch more.
I've dumped The Witcher. It's a snoozefest. Saw the episode with Yennifer running away from an assassin with a bug type creature and that was the only bit I liked. The bits with The Witcher were so badly shot and so, so boring. Let's not start on the Fiona bits, they've always been dull af. I'm done.
I'm finishing of Silicon Valley now. Always good. Always blue.
catbarf on 17/1/2020 at 18:45
My wife recently found a copy of Dark City on Blu-Ray, with both the theatrical cut and director's cut. So we watched both.
The director's cut might just be my favorite film of all time. The story is a slow burn, the great sort of gradual reveal where you want to go back and re-watch to see the clues you missed. Rufus Sewell, Jennifer Connelly, and William Hurt have a lot of chemistry as the core trio, and I love how Kiefer Sutherland's eccentricity makes it unclear where his loyalties lie until the very end. And visually, it's fantastic, with a wonderful sci-fi noir aesthetic that evokes Blade Runner and Fritz Lang. I read that Roger Ebert loved the film and spent a weekend workshop going through every single shot in the movie and analyzing it, and I can understand why.
Then the theatrical cut... Wow. It adds an intro that spoils the entire backstory right off the bat, so the first 2/3 of the film goes from a moody slow burn to an aggravating catch-up as the protagonist struggles to figure out what we already know. All the other great elements are still there, but it's frustrating how the story is gutted by an unnecessary title crawl.
It's really a shame that the film isn't more widely known today (especially given the parallels between it and The Matrix), and that it was released with studio meddling, but at least it's still available in its intended form. I'm twenty years late to the party but better late than never, I guess.
Harvester on 21/1/2020 at 23:19
I've watched some disturbing films during my lifetime, and The House That Jack Built by Lars von Trier is definitely up there. Now I have a pretty strong stomach, I've watched something like The Human Centipede: Full Sequence and of course it's very gruesome, but I'm mostly disturbed by considering the state of mind of the writer/director/hack.
But THTJB is an intelligent movie, directed with care and with a smart screenplay. It's divided in chapters called Incidents and I think most would say Incident 3 is the most disturbing and I get why they would say that. But to me Incident 4 takes the cake. The deliberate, calculated mental torture inflicted upon that woman, an innocent not very bright girl who's outwitted by this psychopathic genius (in comparison), is very disturbing to me. This kind of stuff just strikes a nerve, having been bullied in my younger years (nothing compared to this of course) this is something that hits hard with me, this kind of deliberate psychological cruelty in movies (which serves here as a prelude to physical cruelty). Felt the same way with Michael Madsen's Stuck in the Middle With You scene of Reservoir Dogs. The realization that humans can be so cruel towards one another is the scariest thing about movies like this, for me personally. And I already have a pretty bleak outlook on humanity.
Don't know if I can recommend this movie, it's interesting for sure but Lars von Trier movies usually leave me with a weird aftertaste. Think I'll skip the Nymphomaniac movies.
froghawk on 25/1/2020 at 20:38
Von Trier has been completely insufferable ever since he began the depression trilogy (and some older works like The Idiots don't hold up so well, either). He's had his moments of brilliance (Zentropa, Dancer in the Dark, etc.) but man is he a childish prick with an immature worldview. Looks like this new film is just him trying to antagonize the metoo movement after being implicated in it, so I'm gonna give it a pass.
SubJeff on 26/1/2020 at 07:32
Contagion.
I've seen it, my wife hadn't. The Wuhan corona virus is what made her think of it. It's a great film but pretty terrifying.