What's on the idiot box... Part 2

[LadyCrimson]

Despite my slight grievance about too much focus on one particular thing (even if there was an eventual point), I wasn't disappointed with Sherlock. I think for a 3rd season they did fairly well at trying to branch out even further from the typical Holmes. eg, I saw it as trying to grow into their own. Some aspects of that worked, some didn't.

 

I still like the 1st season the best. The 2nd season was good, but I was not overly fond of the Hounds episode myself. Not that it was terrible. It just wasn't great. I'm also not fond of the giggle-insanity version of Moriarty (he's more Riddler...), but it worked well enough when it counted and that actor was funny/good at being such, so I can go with it.

 

I really like the dynamic between Sherlock and Holmes - the two actors play off each other beautifully - and it's likely I'd keep watching even if they can't keep up the pace mystery-wise, over time. Kinda like why I kept watching House, MD (House/Wilson).

[Walsingham]

I think you mean between Holmes and Watson.

[LadyCrimson]

I've been watching "Band of Brothers." I remember hubby watching this a while back, and I caught bits and pieces of it but never watched the whole thing.

 

So far (4 episodes in) what I find is that it's a stellar cast/acting job and well done combat scenes/great cinematography, etc. But I find it a bit confusing in terms of characters - after the first episode only a few really stand out and the rest seem to enter and disappear with me barely knowing/connecting about them. Sometimes I can't even place face with name when they do have a line or two to say.

 

Then again, I'd imagine that happens in combat wartime so if it was one of their aims to capture a certain sense of confusion, then...it does well. But it tends to make me not care much, dramatically.

[Hiro Protagonist]

If you think Band of Brothers is confusing, try watching the companion piece The Pacific.

 

From Wikipedia: Whereas Band of Brothers followed one company of the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment through the European Theatre, The Pacific centres on the experiences of three Marines (Eugene Sledge, Robert Leckie and John Basilone) who were all in different regiments...

 

While The Pacific was good, Band of Brothers was better.

[Walsingham]

I've been watching "Band of Brothers." I remember hubby watching this a while back, and I caught bits and pieces of it but never watched the whole thing.

 

So far (4 episodes in) what I find is that it's a stellar cast/acting job and well done combat scenes/great cinematography, etc. But I find it a bit confusing in terms of characters - after the first episode only a few really stand out and the rest seem to enter and disappear with me barely knowing/connecting about them. Sometimes I can't even place face with name when they do have a line or two to say.

 

Then again, I'd imagine that happens in combat wartime so if it was one of their aims to capture a certain sense of confusion, then...it does well. But it tends to make me not care much, dramatically.

 

maybe you could make some kind of wall chart to help others?

[LadyCrimson]

maybe you could make some kind of wall chart to help others?

It's late and I must be a little punchy, because for some reason that immediately brought to mind the famous Aliens "build a campfire, sing some songs" quote.

 

With the way characters in the series come and go, sometimes with zero introduction at all, I think even a chart would fail to de-confuse.

[BruceVC]

 

maybe you could make some kind of wall chart to help others?

It's late and I must be a little punchy, because for some reason that immediately brought to mind the famous Aliens "build a campfire, sing some songs" quote.

 

With the way characters in the series come and go, sometimes with zero introduction at all, I think even a chart would fail to de-confuse.

 

 

Nonetheless, make the chart and we can let you know how helpful it was. You can always make amendments as characters change in the series?

 

Edited January 21, 2014 by BruceVC

[Malcador]

Some day the Korean War will get a TV series like that.  Heh.

Edited January 21, 2014 by Malcador

[Amentep]

Well the season finale for SLEEPY HOLLOW was a bit of a humdinger. Figured out part of it, but hadn't yet connected all the pieces.

 

Glad its already renewed, hate it when shows go for the cliffhanger season end and then don't get renewed...

[BruceVC]

Well the season finale for SLEEPY HOLLOW was a bit of a humdinger. Figured out part of it, but hadn't yet connected all the pieces.

 

Glad its already renewed, hate it when shows go for the cliffhanger season end and then don't get renewed...

 

I've been enjoying this series and I'm looking forward to the last episode, you should watch American Horror Story if you enjoy Sleepy Hollow. Its got its horror\fantasy appeal as well

[Raithe]

Well I've got all of Sleepy Hollow saved up. I've only watched the pilot, so I have to block out some time and do a marathon at some point.

 

Oh, and the new Archer has started. Isis get's shut down and they turn to crime.. That should be interesting.

[Amentep]

 

Well the season finale for SLEEPY HOLLOW was a bit of a humdinger. Figured out part of it, but hadn't yet connected all the pieces.

 

Glad its already renewed, hate it when shows go for the cliffhanger season end and then don't get renewed...

 

I've been enjoying this series and I'm looking forward to the last episode, you should watch American Horror Story if you enjoy Sleepy Hollow. Its got its horror\fantasy appeal as well

 

I dunno, I was iffy on AHS based on its premise, but people I know who are huge horrorfans watched it and was dissapointed by it so I've never checked it out.

[Oerwinde]

Well I've got all of Sleepy Hollow saved up. I've only watched the pilot, so I have to block out some time and do a marathon at some point.

 

 

Sleepy Hollow is such a fun show. I love Ichabod's rants about modern society.

[Raithe]

Watched some Father Brown.

 

The latest adaption of the G K Chesterton stories about a small parish Catholic priest in the 50's who happens to have an inquisitive mind and keeps helping the police to solve various crimes, even when they don't want his help. Interesting in a lot of ways, that he spends as much time working on the basis of the greater good and making sure everyone's souls are saved as much as dealing with strictly legal "good". Having been exposed to the horrors of World War 1 as a young man, and then a few decades of hearing confessionals, he tends to have a quirky understanding of the depths of human evil.

 

Rather then being a deductive Sherlock Holmes type, he's more of the intuitive:  "You see, I had murdered them all myself... I had planned out each of the crimes very carefully. I had thought out exactly how a thing like that could be done, and in what style or state of mind a man could really do it. And when I was quite sure that I felt exactly like the murderer myself, of course I knew who he was."

 

This current series has Mark Williams in the lead role (as in, the Weasley father from the Potter films). I find it quirkily entertaining, but it never managed to quite match up to Alec Guinness' version in the old Father Brown film version.

[Amentep]

I've seen bits and pieces of that - should sit down and give it a watch but its been on at an awkward time locally.

[kgambit]

 

I've been watching "Band of Brothers." I remember hubby watching this a while back, and I caught bits and pieces of it but never watched the whole thing.

 

So far (4 episodes in) what I find is that it's a stellar cast/acting job and well done combat scenes/great cinematography, etc. But I find it a bit confusing in terms of characters - after the first episode only a few really stand out and the rest seem to enter and disappear with me barely knowing/connecting about them. Sometimes I can't even place face with name when they do have a line or two to say.

 

Then again, I'd imagine that happens in combat wartime so if it was one of their aims to capture a certain sense of confusion, then...it does well. But it tends to make me not care much, dramatically.

 

maybe you could make some kind of wall chart to help others?

 

 

Like this?

 

[BruceVC]

 

 

I've been watching "Band of Brothers." I remember hubby watching this a while back, and I caught bits and pieces of it but never watched the whole thing.

 

So far (4 episodes in) what I find is that it's a stellar cast/acting job and well done combat scenes/great cinematography, etc. But I find it a bit confusing in terms of characters - after the first episode only a few really stand out and the rest seem to enter and disappear with me barely knowing/connecting about them. Sometimes I can't even place face with name when they do have a line or two to say.

 

Then again, I'd imagine that happens in combat wartime so if it was one of their aims to capture a certain sense of confusion, then...it does well. But it tends to make me not care much, dramatically.

 

maybe you could make some kind of wall chart to help others?

 

 

Like this?

 

 

 

Nice one

[kgambit]

 

 

 

Nice one

 

 

Thanks.  Or this one:

 

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/278/e/c/band_of_brothers_banner_by_social_iconoclast-d5gthsa.png

 

The only characters I can think of that are missing from either of those pics are David Schwimmer as Captain Herbert Sobel and Peter O'Meara as 1st Lt. Norman Dike.  Sobel appears in the beginning episodes as well as later on.  Dike appears in a later episode ("The Breaking Point" at the Battle for Foy) and is infamously incompetent. 

 

I can't wait for the next series: MASTERS OF THE AIR: The Mighty Eighth Air Force. 

 

http://mightyeighth.org/

Edited January 22, 2014 by kgambit

[BruceVC]

I'm watching the second season of Banshee and just like the first season its absolutely entertaining. Its produced by HBO so expect adult themes but if you haven't seen it before I recommend it

[BruceVC]

 

 

 

 

Nice one

 

 

Thanks.  Or this one:

 

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/278/e/c/band_of_brothers_banner_by_social_iconoclast-d5gthsa.png

 

The only characters I can think of that are missing from either of those pics are David Schwimmer as Captain Herbert Sobel and Peter O'Meara as 1st Lt. Norman Dike.  Sobel appears in the beginning episodes as well as later on.  Dike appears in later episodes (particularly "The Breaking Point" at the Battle for Foy) and is infamously incompetent. 

 

I can't wait for the next series: MASTERS OF THE AIR: The Mighty Eighth Air Force. 

 

http://mightyeighth.org/

 

 

I didn't even know this was coming, its exactly what I enjoy watching. I imagine its going to be sad ....

[kgambit]

 

 

 

 

 

Nice one

 

 

Thanks.  Or this one:

 

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2012/278/e/c/band_of_brothers_banner_by_social_iconoclast-d5gthsa.png

 

The only characters I can think of that are missing from either of those pics are David Schwimmer as Captain Herbert Sobel and Peter O'Meara as 1st Lt. Norman Dike.  Sobel appears in the beginning episodes as well as later on.  Dike appears in later episodes (particularly "The Breaking Point" at the Battle for Foy) and is infamously incompetent. 

 

I can't wait for the next series: MASTERS OF THE AIR: The Mighty Eighth Air Force. 

 

http://mightyeighth.org/

 

 

I didn't even know this was coming, its exactly what I enjoy watching. I imagine its going to be sad ....

 

 

The series is based on the book of the same name by Donald Miller. 

 

One of the key figures of the book is Robert “Rosie” Rosenthal, leader of the Bloody Hundredth, who flew 52 combat missions, was shot down three times, and later became a member of the team of prosecuting attorneys at the Nuremberg Trials.  Other members of the 8th AF included Robert Morgan, pilot of the legendary Memphis Belle; of Paul Tibbets, who later would fly the Enola Gay on the A-bomb mission to Hiroshima; of Curtis LeMay, one of the most celebrated combat leaders of the bomber war. 

 

 

This is not just a story of war in the air. Miller tells the stories of captured airmen in German prison camps, including Stalag Luft III, scene of the largest prison break of the war, later depicted in the movie The Great Escape, and Stalag 17, also made famous on film. POWs, evacuated from camps by the SS late in the war as the Red Army advanced, undertook grueling forced marches, dying in great numbers, and witnessing the devastation they had caused with their bombs. French and Belgian resistance fighters risked their lives rescuing downed airman—and were often executed for their efforts. One airman who was shot down in Nazi-occupied France and escaped across the Pyrenees with the help of these heroic leaders of the European Resistance was fighter pilot Chuck Yeager, who later gained fame as a test pilot.

 

 

http://sites.lafayette.edu/millerd/other-publications/masters-of-the-air/

[LadyCrimson]

But see, that picture of chr. heads doesn't tell me who those characters are, and why I should care more for them than I would for a sidewalk extra in ID4. Outside of Winters, Nixon, Compton and the trainer from Friends, everyone else is just a blank face who shows up on screen for 20 seconds then disappears, is shot in some frantic battle, or survives battle and eventually shows up on screen again for another 20 seconds. Occasionally they sit around a fire or a table and have a brief convo. There's the chr. who had a chat with the German prisoner who was from the States that stood out as a scene, but not much else so far.

 

I did, however, spot Andrew Scott early on (guy who plays Moriarty on Sherlock) which gave me a giggle. But then he croaked so that was the end of that. Perhaps in another few episodes (seen 5 now) I'll change my mind....but eh.

 

I normally like war/soldier types of stories and I do like BoB ok, but I guess I prefer my heavy war tales with a bit more to emotionally connect with (Saving Private Ryan has a few issues, especially the 2nd half, but it was a great film imo). Otherwise I'd rather see just a pure documentary.

[kgambit]

But see, that picture of chr. heads doesn't tell me who those characters are, and why I should care more for them .....

 

The chart wasn't intended to solve either of those problems but this one:

 

Sometimes I can't even place face with name when they do have a line or two to say ....

 

 

Seriously, I have no idea why you have so much trouble keeping track of the characters.  Guys like "Gonorhea" who loses his brother in Italy at Monte Cassino and goes postal on a German patrol or Lt. Spiers who ends up replacing Dike and makes a mad dash thru German positions.  Or Roy Cobb who gets hit in the butt by shrapnel on the night of the D-Day jump and can't make the jump, and then later craps all over a couple of replacements because they are wearing the Regimental Citation medal for the Normandy jump only to be reminded that he didn't make the jump either.     

 

Maybe it's a guy thing ..... 

[LadyCrimson]

I remember the plot point of the guy who loses his brother. Doesn't mean I recognize his face when he shows up again outside of that, which I think he may have. Even the guy who had the chat with the German prisoner, if he shows up again in some ditch, I don't immediately recognize him as being that guy who talked to the German prisoner.

 

It's possible it's because so many of them look and sound sorta the same, to me, under the dirty faces and the helmets. A lot of them aren't very distinctive outside of the plot telling me they're distinctive via some device. Also, a character isn't interesting just because the plot tells me he should be via others talking about it.

 

Two guys talk about a letter with the news about this dead brother and wonder whether to tell the guy - 30 second scene. So (I assume, we aren't told/shown) the one soldier arranged for the guy to "accidentally" find the letter - 30 second scene. There's a brief moment of "sorry, it's sad, you ok" - 15 second scene. And then later after the drop, suddenly the brother is going postal, new guy goes "what's his problem?" and another goes "lost his brother."

 

It's bad characterization/motivation sequencing (when I knew almost nothing about the guy to begin with).

[Labadal]

Watched the last 5 episodes of Samurai Champloo. Now I need to find myself a new anime box to buy. Time to do some research.