TV and Streaming: The Thread

[kanisatha]

On 10/31/2019 at 1:22 PM, Malcador said:

 

Well, at least he didn't go full Batman on the voice.

Yup, and apparently there's even a scene of him in a bathtub.

[Gromnir]

On 10/31/2019 at 10:22 AM, Malcador said:

vid

Well, at least he didn't go full Batman on the voice.

am assuming the trailer is meant to appeal to fans of the books, 'cause it left us perplexed.  usual we can tell when an offering is intentional aiming for camp.  everything 'bout the trailer screams camp, but it felt as if the actors were playing straight and we didn't get the tongue-in-cheek camp vibe from direction. 

the thing is, if we didn't know anything 'bout the aforementioned batman and we saw clips from any batman movie, we might assume it were camp. sure, the joel schumacher stuff were crossing the line into camp as did the adam west show,

but most batman fare isn't aiming for self-mockery. is only 'cause we know batman we can recognize seriousness o' a grown man dressed in a halloween costume fighting crime. 

am suspecting we do not have the tools needed to make us see the witcher trailer in the light which were intended, 'cause at the moment, it looks... wrong. 

HA! Good Fun!

[Lexx]

On 11/2/2019 at 4:15 PM, Skarpen said:

Wow, they are finally noticing that this woke crap is a recipe for disaster:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/tvandshowbiz/10254771/game-of-thrones-prequel-axed/amp/

" It was to feature the first White Walker as black, put lesbian characters at the heart of the plot and make one of Ned Stark’s ancestors mixed race. "
That does sound pretty terrible, tbh.

/Edit:
"  It was very different to the original series, but was very brave and bold. "
lel, way to talk yourself out of it.

Edited November 4, 2019 by Lexx

[Raithe]

Re-watching some classics, and get that reminder that after a season of comedy, Blackadder Goes Forth ends with a few laughts but still nails the poignancy of that moment in history.

 

[Bartimaeus]

On 10/28/2019 at 12:03 PM, Oner said:

I'm not sure if this is the right thread but I'm going to embrace my inner anarchist:

 

Thanks for linking, that was all over the place but still sort of great. Interested to see where it goes. Love the setting and premise*, and there were some immediately likeable characters on top of it. (e): Hope it gets picked up by someone  - I see that this was an indie production.

*Charlie's aim will no doubt remind NWN2 players of Kaelyn the Dove, even if the setup to get there is very different...

Edited November 6, 2019 by Bartimaeus

[Raithe]

Watched an episode of Prodigal Son out of curiosity, which led to watching several episodes.

While most of it is the fairly hum-drum procedural of the week wrapped around the core premise of a profiler whose father was a serial killer, every episode I've caught has pretty much been stolen by the brief moments of Michael Sheen in the supporting role as the serial killer father in prison. He manages to engage both as that chilling manipulative, former high society surgeon revealed as a very controlled psychopath, yet at the same time as a desperate father trying to stay connected with the son he loves.

[LadyCrimson]

Right this second I'm watching Star Trek (OS) episode "Shore Leave" - because I find it hilarious, even with the horrible music that plays every time Kirk meets up with that woman from his past. And after that one I'm going to rewatch "Spock's Brain," because it's also hilarious, albeit in a more unintended fashion. Haven't watched any of the OS episodes in ages and it's campy fun to see a bit of the old crew again.

[injurai]

This popped up in my feed. I don't watch Discovery, because I saw the writing on the wall... but I didn't realize it could get this bad...

It's not just the contrast. I'm shocked beyond belief of the later on it's own accord. Who is this writing for? Who writes that? What purpose does it serve for the show, or for the market?

It feels like a self-insert of someone on a power-trip being validated for their bad behavior? Or maybe it's just expedient writing to force the plot into a new state that could be better salvaged?

Honestly this is so bizarre.

 

[Raithe]

To be fair, that is from a "short" rather than an episode, and it was meant to be them playing up the comedy.

But yes, it is still kind of dire for Star Trek to go that route...

[Lexx]

I'm currently watching Doom Patrol. Thought it would be lame and ****ty, but got surprised about how good it actually is. Like, really, it has some really good ideas that I haven't experienced anywhere else yet. Still got 7 episodes to go. Hope they won't ruin it.

[ManifestedISO]

They don't, ruin it. Doom Patrol outdoes itself every episode. Definitely the weirdest but probably the best collection of individual character arcs on television. Put them all together and then add Alan Tudyk ... magic.

[majestic]

15 hours ago, injurai said:

This popped up in my feed. I don't watch Discovery, because I saw the writing on the wall... but I didn't realize it could get this bad...

It's not just the contrast. I'm shocked beyond belief of the later on it's own accord. Who is this writing for? Who writes that? What purpose does it serve for the show, or for the market?

It feels like a self-insert of someone on a power-trip being validated for their bad behavior? Or maybe it's just expedient writing to force the plot into a new state that could be better salvaged?

Honestly this is so bizarre.

 

What's up with people not knowing how to use the comparative and superlative forms of adjectives corretcly? Nothing can be worst than anything else. Literally! Heh. Literally...

Anyway, dear lord, what the hell did I just watch?

[ShadySands]

I have a lot of issue with the storytelling in Disco but that's not one of them.

[Skarpen]

Watched first episode of Mandalorian. It was good surprisingly. No jar jar like characters, no moralization speeches and no sjw preaching.

[ShadySands]

Not  a fan of the weekly release schedules as I have some measure of self control

[majestic]

I don't know, I thought the episode was half an hour of nothing much and

a baby Yoda in the end. I wonder if that means we'll be getting a species name at some point down the road?

The Beskar forging scene bothered me a bit (much like GoT's reforging of Ice). Cast iron has a higher carbon content (that's what makes it, uhm, castable) and while becoming exceptionally hard won't be able to withstand impacts all that well and simply shatter, not something you want in an armor or a melee weapon. That can be seen in how a cast iron skillet can't even stop a .22 caliber round.

Okay, I get it, it's Mandalorian iron and not real life iron and can have any number of properties that still make it viable armor after melting it down and casting it, but that doesn't explain why you would need to cast and forge it into shape. That's just... weird.

[Hurlshort]

I am completely rethinking my cast iron skillet defense plan after that info bomb, @majestic.

[Lexx]

Hey it worked for Ned Kelly, didn't it?

[Malcador]

https://variety.com/2019/tv/news/the-witcher-renewed-season-2-netflix-1203403503/

Obviously, the show is good.  Hm, will be fun to watch game fans rage over it at least.

[Maedhros]

Liking the first two episodes of Mandalorian. While not without flaws, it has its own style and does well at what it tries to do with tight and "to-the-point" storytelling.

[algroth]

I'll watch the second episode of The Mandalorian in a moment, but I'm pretty unenthused by the first episode. It has serious tonal and formal issues: from a photography standpoint it's borrowing a fair bit from Rogue One but feels like there's always one too many elements that look silly and act as a complete tonal whiplash to the grimmer atmosphere all other elements seem to be setting - Rogue One in this sense was generally pretty reseved when it came to rubbery alien costumes, muppet-like creatures and the likes; meanwhile there's some very evident western overtones to the story and setting thus far but the photography is often so muted, claustrophobic, quickly-cut and needlessly handheld that it never really captures the Technicolor cinemascope vastness that is such a staple and such a large part of the genre's appeal, at a more formal level at least. The action scenes seem sloppy, Pedro Pascal, whilst a good actor, simply feels awkward and stiff as the protagonist instead of properly stoic the way Karl Urban's take on Judge Dredd came across, and by and large the whole thing felt like a series of tropey moments that did very little to offer a hook moving forward. Literally the best part of the episode were the closing credits, and I don't say that in a snarky fashion: I quite enjoyed the mural-like renders of events transpired throughout the episode, they felt more evocative and visually interesting than the actual scenes.

Just... Not very good. Worse than The Last Jedi. I hear it gets better though.

Edited November 16, 2019 by algroth

[Lexx]

I just watched the second episode and I actually find it to be not that bad so far. Certainly better than the last 5 or what movies.

Getting some serious "Lone Wolf & Cub"-vibes. Wouldn't be surprised if that gave lots of inspiration.

[ShadySands]

It's grown on me a little bit in the second episode but something about it feels off to me. My wife liked it more than me and she's usually more picky when it comes to Star Wars but she did think the pacing was weird.

And then Disney decided my Hulu Live bill wasn't big enough so now I might be dropping live TV altogether

Edited November 16, 2019 by ShadySands

[kirottu]

I've enjoyed Mandalorian so far. I especially liked the 10 or so first minutes of the second episode where there were no talking. 

[algroth]

Watched the second episode, and I feel like I have to lower my expectations considerably for what remains of the show. I don't know what I was expecting, really - I suppose I was hoping for an interesting and more iconoclastic take on the Star Wars underbelly, but instead what we're getting is a pulpy space adventure serial dressed in self-seriousness and drab grey photography. Disregarding the satire, it's odd to see this so closely after playing The Outer Worlds as it feels like all the notes and points the game hit to make a fun space adventure, The Mandalorian seems woefully inept at. The character is the worst kind of "stoic" and the framing does him no favours, often attempting to get a Kulechov-esque reaction shot of his helmet to his surroundings whilst rarely exploiting the physicality required to make a performance and character like this interesting. The dialogues are stilted and devoid of detail or character to the point that they resemble Skyrim interactions, the whole thing is so utterly uncharismatic and humourless, so ponderous and yet meaningless thus far. We're two episodes in and already it feels like they're throwing a bunch of padding our way. Pretty handily the worst Star Wars venture since the Disney acquisition, bar maybe Solo which I haven't seen. It's an even bigger shame because I like all of the parties involved.

Edited November 16, 2019 by algroth