TV and Streaming: The Thread

[Lexx]

One thing I was thinking about when watching the first episode is how it reminded me of these short fan movies. Even with the high production value (cgi, etc.), it just feels to me like fans made it and put it on youtube.

Still going to watch more of it, and so far I'm not hating it, so there's that.

Edited November 16, 2019 by Lexx

[ShadySands]

  On 11/16/2019 at 8:53 PM, algroth said:

Pretty handily the worst Star Wars venture since the Disney acquisition, bar maybe Solo which I haven't seen.

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I wouldn't go that far, especially so soon, but I generally agree with everything before that

[algroth]

  On 11/16/2019 at 9:57 PM, ShadySands said:

I wouldn't go that far, especially so soon, but I generally agree with everything before that

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True. Just so far at least - but it's worth pointing out that I'm not too down on the Disney Star Wars stuff so far either.

[injurai]

Shame Pedro Pascal got snatched up by this project. I was really hoping he'd play Duncan Idaho in the Dune movie. When I reread Dune after watching Narcos, I always imagined Duncan's scenes as Pedro Pascal. Probably because he is a perfect cast for that character. Not that Jason Mamoa doesn't look the part after a haircut, just his performance history doesn't exactly fit the same mentally collected role. *shrugs*

[uuuhhii]

just finished the man in the high castle season 4

5 and 6 episode might be the best in the series

in latter episode writer really don't know how to end this story

the show should have be much shorter and with a more ambiguous ending

[Lexx]

I tried continuing with season 3 of the man in the high castle today. For some reason the show really lost me... I just find it boring at this point.

[LadyCrimson]

I kind of like that Witcher trailer posted above ... for the visual aspects. It doesn't tell me much about the show itself.

Started that Breaking Bad Jessie epilogue Netflix movie last night. Didn't have time to watch the whole thing but the first 15 minutes seemed pretty decent - enough so that I'll have to watch the rest later today.

[Gfted1]

 

[Blarghagh]

The Mandalorian. It's like Firefly, if Firefly didn't have the clever writing or likeable characters. So far it's keeping me interested solely because of the cutest gremlin of all time.

[kirottu]

Screw you guys, I like Mandalorian. It's like watching an old school western where men talk little and shoot a lot. 

[Maedhros]

Mandalorian is one of those series where I manage to ignore its flaws, turn off my brain and enjoy the ride.

[uuuhhii]

really want some western style space opera too

but would prefer something lean much more toward comedy than mandalorian

[ShadySands]

"I should warn you. I have a tiny blasterproof shield the exact size of a blaster bolt, somewhere on my body. And if you hit it, I'll be unharmed and your plan will be foiled. You'll be the laughing stock of me."

I dunno, I still think something is off but I can't really explain why. It has the potential to be great which, I think, is why it bothers me so much.

 

[ManifestedISO]

  On 11/23/2019 at 9:05 AM, kirottu said:

Screw you guys, I like Mandalorian. It's like watching an old school western where men talk little and shoot a lot. 

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same, Chapter 3 could be the greatest 37mins in space opera history

 

everyone in the galaxy knows membership in a wretched hive of scum and villainy requires placing a blaster-proof shield over their heart in the event of a showdown with a Mandalorian

[algroth]

Just as I think the series is starting to get interesting, in comes a load of bollocks at the final five minutes that offer just about the worst we've seen of the series thus far and kills much of the tension moving forward.

  Reveal hidden contents

For the better part of its run, the episode exhibits much of the creakiness of the past two inasmuch as the aesthetic remains rather flat, grey and uninspiring for a show that is so heavily leaning on "western" tropes (they are doing so much in the way Jessica Jones was leaning into noir, i.e. they're aping some pop-culture idea of what these genres were like without actually delving into and adapting the aesthetic or discourse of the same, all resulting in the equivalent of what a thrift-store arabesque lampshade is to actual Middle-Eastern culture for example), where characters are only the resultant of whatever bag of clichés have been constructed around them, where references to the cinematic big brother are awkwardly shoehorned in and frequently undermine the flow or tension of the scene, where all the interactions between characters and all the dramatic beats feel so mechanical and by-the-formula that they rob every scene of any emotional impact or suspense or humanity. Mando's traumatic childhood experiences interject every scene they're in with the subtlety of a double-decker bus and do the opposite of their intention, robbing the protagonist of uniqueness or an interesting hook by making of a character that should ideally be stoic, enigmatic and hard to read simply a traditional damaged hero with a backstory we've seen a dozen times before. Of course he's going to feel pity for the child, because he sees himself reflected in that child and so on - it's all dreadfully mawkish and by-the-numbers.

Nevertheless the episode has the best semblance of a hook we've seen so far - we know that Mando's going to rescue the child, but the tension lies less in whether he'll do it or whether he'll succeed but what the implications will be for him as a bounty-hunter, how in breaking the code he'd be making of himself a target of other bounty-hunters and a pariah amidst the Mandalorians. Well-worn as it may be, this sort of conflict may at the very least add some tension and drama to a series so far bereft of either... Only that at the very end it turns out that he isn't any of this and the Mandalorians are on his side because we couldn't possibly have this awesome-looking line of toys brotherhood of assassins and bountyhunters follow an actual amoral code, but instead come to the rescure, save the day, protect the code-breaker and so on because "this is de Wae". And we have to top it all off with an Iron Man salute and an "I got to get me one of those" at the very end because Mando will have his own jetpack at some point and Backwards-Jizzney wants to sell toys and whatever. So again, there's no tension, there's no mystery, there's no anticipation moving forward in the story. Another episode wrapped with a neat bow that seems to drop down from the sky because it's convenient and don't Mandalorians look awesome?

For what it's worth, there's some individual moments that work pretty well and so on. Werner Herzog, much as he's wasted in this role, is always a commanding presence, the baby gremlin's cute, and up to the arrival of the rest of the Mandalorians the showdown at the end of the episode is quite cool and has some pretty effective moments. Still a far cry from excellence either way.

I'll probably keep watching this for this season, see if it builds up towards anything of interest, but I doubt I'll care for the future of this particular story if things continue as they are. Also the fact that Wookies made the scandal they did with The Last Jedi but are praising this to the high heavens tells me they should have all their rights to complain about Star Wars officially revoked. [/rant]

Also:

 

[algroth]

Very odd, seems I cannot edit the parts I wanted to add after the spoiler tag, which were included in it instead. Oh well.

[Bartimaeus]

Yeah, the lack of the normal BBCode mode makes editing BBCode in any real manner a terrifying nightmare from which we will never awaken. ...But hey, at least images you copy+paste automatically get embedded tags. That was worth the trade, .

[LadyCrimson]

It's a movie but I saw it on Prime. Had it in my list for a long while.

"Cold Pursuit" - another one of those Liam Neeson is angry movies. Figured I knew what I'd get. I was half-right.
It was actually rather darkly funny. I was (vaguely) reminded of Fargo in a few spots but mostly because of minor comic tones. It's a revenge tale, angry father of dead son. Local drug kingpin (the loud/pushy, crazy but suave-ish type) then through misunderstandings re: angry daddy's actions, this local Indian tribe (also drug kingpins?) gets pulled in. While angry father doesn't know what he's started.

Not a good movie per se but it made me and hubby lol quite a few times. If you like Neeson in this mode, it's a decent freebie stream watch.

[Guard Dog]

Netflix cancels MST3K! https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/27/entertainment/netflix-mystery-science-theater-3000/index.html

[ShadySands]

I saw a few stand-ups and Bill Burr's Paper Tiger was by far the best followed by Iliza Schlesinger and Jim Gaffigan.

I've been a fan of Burr for a long time now and even saw him live here in Denver.

[Maedhros]

Great episode of Watchmen, wish I could watch the next one right away.

[Gfted1]

WOT adds four more cast members.

[Blarghagh]

Is The Mandalorian entirely side quests? 

[algroth]

  On 12/7/2019 at 1:32 PM, TrueNeutral said:

Is The Mandalorian entirely side quests? 

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I didn't write about ep. 4 but I'll say that it exacerbates all of the issues in the series thus far. A rather pointless deviation from a plot that has yet to make its case for why we ought to care, shot in a manner so oddly televisual and even at times theatrical that it just feels like a lost Xena: Warrior Princess episode. The very beginning is especially weird, with the thrift-store rubber orcs jumping from out of the artificial fog and doing their pretend attack, bouncing around a little before bouncing right back out in a wide, still shot where you can clearly see how their "exit" was to merely crouch behind the tall grass. Seriously, what? Bryce Dallas Howard directed this - I think making a "like father, like daughter" remark would be unfair to Ron, and that's not a sentiment I think too often.

Also, more shameless plugs to Disney's line of toys: "[Baby Yoda]'s SO CUTE!!! CAN I PLAY WITH HIM?!?!" **** right off.

Edited December 7, 2019 by algroth

[Lexx]

I don't like how every episode is barely 20 minutes long. It's just not enough time.