Tale Posted December 26, 2018 Posted December 26, 2018 I binged Dirk Gently and loved it. Now on to Legion. It's a good show, but I can't help but be disappointed that he's not crazy enough. "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater."
Gromnir Posted December 26, 2018 Posted December 26, 2018 (edited) I binged Dirk Gently and loved it. Now on to Legion. It's a good show, but I can't help but be disappointed that he's not crazy enough. am thinking mental illness is one o' the most overused character development crutches... evar. want a character to behave erratic or unpredictable and "crazy" is often the solution. is a cheap dodge. writer can't come up with a decent motivation for ________, so crazy it is. not need an explanation for crazy. ack. worse, some director or writer may wanna try for realism with mental illness, but mental illness is rare cinematic, so is a tendency to either exaggerate for effect or romanticize, which is actual understandable given realities. in our experience, "crazy" tends to appear either mind numbing banal or gut wrenching terrible. example: a beautiful mind took more than limited liberties with schizophrenia and john nash's life to make a viewable hollywood movie. add scene where nash throws alicia to ground during a faculty picnic and steps on her throat to prove to all in attendance he is her lord and master? ron howard left that part out, eh? am knowing crazy is part o' the character, so is essential for legion. nevertheless, am always dubious 'bout tv and movie crazy. is most often done poorly or for altogether wrong reasons. as such, crazy is on our list o' presumptive unforgivables in entertainment, right behind time travel... and pauly shore. is admitted exceptions in the case o' both time travel and crazy, although such is extreme limited. HA! Good Fun! Edited December 26, 2018 by Gromnir "If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."Justice Louis Brandeis, Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927) "Im indifferent to almost any murder as long as it doesn't affect me or mine."--Gfted1 (September 30, 2019)
Blarghagh Posted December 26, 2018 Posted December 26, 2018 writer can't come up with a decent motivation for ________, so crazy it is. not need an explanation for crazy. ack. This isn't in effect in Legion. Plenty of reasons given in for his 'crazy'. 1
Gromnir Posted December 26, 2018 Posted December 26, 2018 misunderstanding. the root cause o' crazy is easy to explain to audience. is typical genetic or trauma or whatever. not difficult to believe bob or lucy is crazy after suffering what they went through. however, crazy replaces motivation. crazy becomes motivation and explains any irrational or unreasonable behavior. crutch. can make anybody crazy by introducing trauma, and once one establishes crazy, no longer does writer need worry 'bout reasonable or believable motivations for actions. cheap. HA! Good Fun! "If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."Justice Louis Brandeis, Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927) "Im indifferent to almost any murder as long as it doesn't affect me or mine."--Gfted1 (September 30, 2019)
Blarghagh Posted December 26, 2018 Posted December 26, 2018 Not misunderstanding, I knew what you meant and I agree in general, but it's not in effect in Legion. Reasons for crazy are extremely plot-relevant and affected by several character's motivations. 1
Zoraptor Posted December 27, 2018 Posted December 27, 2018 If there's one programme on TV that makes me happy that it exists it's Legion. Not my favourite by any means but there should be a place on TV for shows like it. 1
kanisatha Posted December 27, 2018 Posted December 27, 2018 Project Bluebook starts on the History Channel early January. From the ads for it, it looks really interesting.
LadyCrimson Posted December 28, 2018 Posted December 28, 2018 Watched 2 episodes of the new Watership Down ... Netflix auto-started the 3rd episode but I paused it after 7 minutes and not sure I'll return to it. I also couldn't quite get past the horrible CGI face and hindquarters animations of the rabbits. I mean it looks ok/fine when they're sitting still, but they're rabbits and they don't sit still for long. The novel is one of my all time favorite reads (I re-read it periodically to this day). That 70's animated film, I didn't love it at first but it grew on me and now I like it quite a lot. This series changes so many details - particularly in the timing/placement of certain events - that along with the poor CGI rabbits and feeling like the personality and culture lore of them is almost lost (Bigwig and Keehar in the film was most excellent), the book-nerd in me finally rebelled and I couldn't take it. If one hasn't read the book and can overlook the CGI, I suppose it's passable. Maybe if I try watching it again 10 years from now I'll have a better reaction. I do give it points for trying to make a longer adaptation tho. It's not like it's a total quickie/no-love-apparent attempt. 1 “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
Bartimaeus Posted December 28, 2018 Posted December 28, 2018 Yeah, those were basically my thoughts as I wrote above. Plot and pacing got a bit muddled up in bits, don't care that much for the animation (especially the rabbits - character animation seems to always be the worst part of 3D animation in my mind, and it seemed especially lacking in both personality and finesse here), and it really just seems pretty mediocre...but it's not like offensively bad. Meh. The film, of course, has its flaws, but there's no doubting that there was some kind of vision there, and it did not pull any punches as far as I can remember (film opens up with a rather nightmarish scene pretty quickly, as I recall, and people are gored and killed without a moment's notice throughout it). I'm so desperately craving good wholesome fun like Hilda and Steven Universe that I've watched a couple of episodes of both Adventure Time and the new She-Ra. She-Ra seems...kind of mediocre, while Adventure Time just doesn't seem to my taste...yet? Gosh dangit, why do I have to be so selective about what I really like? I guess the fact that you just can't replace the things that are special to you easily is what makes them special to begin with, but it hurts in the meanwhile. Quote How I have existed fills me with horror. For I have failed in everything - spelling, arithmetic, riding, tennis, golf; dancing, singing, acting; wife, mistress, whore, friend. Even cooking. And I do not excuse myself with the usual escape of 'not trying'. I tried with all my heart. In my dreams, I am not crippled. In my dreams, I dance.
Epaminondas Posted December 28, 2018 Posted December 28, 2018 We watched Bird Box, which was a good show. We enjoyed it. Last month, we watched Hill House, which was an excellent book, a mediocre movie, and a terrific TV show. I actually think the Netflix mini-series was better than the book. :prepares for the pummeling he may receive: We watched origin unknown where I figured out the one minor twist really early. At least I think I did. The whole thing was pretty lackluster and had a lot of holes. I'm assuming we had to fill in the gaps in the story-telling. On the other hand, I was so tired from recent festivities that I didn't bother changing the channel. There's a new comedy that isn't so bad. It's Happy Place or some such. We've watched four episodes and it has its moments. χαίρετε
LadyCrimson Posted December 28, 2018 Posted December 28, 2018 (edited) Went back this morning and watched the other two episodes of Watership Down on Netflix. Overall I think it became worse. Best of the 3rd and 4th: Woundwort, the bridge, and Keehar sequence. Worst: inspirational "speech" by Hazel in the vein of ID4's president speech+turning the start of warren fight into, I dunno, almost LotR battles flavor? Also ... Fiver in the car. Argh. Guess they thought he didn't have enough to do originally. Edited December 28, 2018 by LadyCrimson 1 “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
Tale Posted December 29, 2018 Posted December 29, 2018 Bandersnatch on Netflix, a choose your own adventure Black Mirror movie. I think it was pretty fantastic at points. "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater."
ShadySands Posted December 31, 2018 Posted December 31, 2018 The Orville season 2 opener and now I really want a jacket that has one more zipper on it than I'm comfortable with. 1 Free games updated 3/4/21
Gromnir Posted December 31, 2018 Posted December 31, 2018 mj in the 80s wonders if it is possible to have too many zippers. HA! Good Fun! 3 "If there be time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence."Justice Louis Brandeis, Concurring, Whitney v. California, 274 U.S. 357 (1927) "Im indifferent to almost any murder as long as it doesn't affect me or mine."--Gfted1 (September 30, 2019)
Lexx Posted December 31, 2018 Posted December 31, 2018 (edited) That zipper part was great. I lol'd a lot. Also kinda getting a crush on Halston Sage, I think. Edited December 31, 2018 by Lexx 2 "only when you no-life you can exist forever, because what does not live cannot die."
Raithe Posted January 1, 2019 Posted January 1, 2019 mj in the 80s wonders if it is possible to have too many zippers. HA! Good Fun! To be fair, I think my Harley Davidson jacket has that many zippers on it, and that's from the early 2000's.... "Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."
Raithe Posted January 1, 2019 Posted January 1, 2019 (edited) Deadly Class. Caught the pilot episode out of curiosity - a disillusioned homeless teen gets recruited into an elite private academy, where top crime families send their successors to become refined killers and masterminds. All set against the backdrop of the 80's. The social cliques being the criminal succesor kids and legacies, the "preps" - the kids of corrupt FBI / CIA agents, and the rest. Kind of quirky, and looks like it might turn interesting. I think I'll follow the next few episodes to see if it develops into somethign worthwhile. Edited January 1, 2019 by Raithe "Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."
LadyCrimson Posted January 2, 2019 Posted January 2, 2019 Bandersnatch on Netflix, a choose your own adventure Black Mirror movie. I think it was pretty fantastic at points. I had no patience to go over the many "paths" except where forced to when I picked a dead-end one I guess, but the underlying story was ok. I liked the dark humor of the chr. commenting how he wasn't in control etc. As a novelty it's kind of cool I suppose, but not sure I'd want films to become live-action virtual novels very often. “Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
SonicMage117 Posted January 3, 2019 Posted January 3, 2019 Has anyone seen a show called "YOU"? I think it may be on Netflix. It's reportedly about a guy who becomes obsessed with a girl and stalks her online to know every detail of her life. To give him the advantage to win her over, perhaps? The premise kinda reminds me of Eye Candy with Victoria Justice who was a Watch Dogs hacker in the dating world of serial killers - a show I miss dearly! What have I been checkin out? Daredevil and Iron Fist. I like it BUT it's easy to see why Titans topped them. Still though, really good. Especially Daredevil. The best version of Iron Fist will always be the chill Cali surfer from Ultimate Spider-Man so... The Masked Singer. I'm pretty sure someone here said shows like American Idol and The Viuce are trash but aside whatever bitterness may have caused such blasphemy, I will just say that the musician in me loves shows like this. It's like trivia but with something actually useful (since you are not only testing your memory but your hearing, sight and cultural examinations. So an actual articulated intelligence test. Just what do you think you're doing?! You dare to come between me and my prey? Is it a habit of yours to scurry about, getting in the way and causing bother? What are you still bothering me for? I'm a Knight. I'm not interested in your childish games. I need my rest. Begone! Lest I draw my nail...
InsaneCommander Posted January 4, 2019 Posted January 4, 2019 Nice second episode of The Orville's second season. The best moment was when they were trying to fix the computer in the holodeck and the porn simulation guys kept trying to engage them. I lost it when Dan turned to the simulations and said "Hi, I'm Dan."
Gfted1 Posted January 4, 2019 Posted January 4, 2019 Isaac is the funniest part of that show by far, for me. He literally makes me lol. "I'm your biggest fan, Ill follow you until you love me, Papa"
Hurlshort Posted January 5, 2019 Posted January 5, 2019 I just started Orville and it is fantastic. It reminds me of when I used to watch TNG in High School, but with a bit more humor. It definitely scratches my Star Trek itch. 2
Tale Posted January 7, 2019 Posted January 7, 2019 11.22.63 8 episodes in and I've decided I just don't care enough to finish it. Happy! 1 episode in and I hope it continues to be this entertaining. "Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater."
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