What TV series are you watching?

Discussion in 'Off Topic Area' started by cloudz, Sep 10, 2014.

  1. 19thlohan

    19thlohan Beast and the Broadsword

    Speaking of which, here's the new trailer for season 2

    [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvzqZKYqQX0"]Supergirl | Sky Trailer | The CW - YouTube[/ame]
     
  2. aikiMac

    aikiMac aikido + boxing = very good Moderator Supporter

    Finished "Stranger Things." Outstanding. I rated it five stars. :love:

    I love how the home fight in the last episode was filmed. The lights flickering on and off so the monster is in the shadows and jumping around, and everyone yelling and swinging wildly -- wow, that was done correctly. That's how a to do a monster-in-the-house fight scene. :happy:

    And I'm impressed that the writers had Nancy get back together with Steve. The easy ending would be her and Jonathan, but it would be too ... too Hollywood Happy Ending. No, there was just the right amount of evidence of Steve redeeming himself to make the viewer start to think favorably about him, and the "one month later" jump lets us wonder about that, and it's just better that she stays with Steve. It's better that he turns into a nice guy. That was the right ending.
     
  3. philosoraptor

    philosoraptor carnivore in a top hat Supporter

    My favorite part of that scene:
    [​IMG]

    Great little characterizing detail.
     
  4. aikiMac

    aikiMac aikido + boxing = very good Moderator Supporter

    LOL! I didn't notice that little detail. You're right -- that is good.
     
  5. philosoraptor

    philosoraptor carnivore in a top hat Supporter

    It's impossible to hate Steve after seeing that. I think there were a lot of things that were handled poorly in the show and I found myself questioning some of the decisions that I think were made to drag the show out, but when it worked it really worked. I guess this goes back to my obsession with functionality in story telling, but that scene was the result of so much preparation that had been done earlier in the series and it was just such a great culminating moment.

    We've seen such a drive in contemporary media to monetize nostalgia, but interestingly it's the shows that were original that I felt best delivered actual genuine sentimentality. Stranger Things was a love letter to a childhood that no longer exists and the stories that went into creating that childhood. That one gesture, just that little thing, is just so genius because it takes me back to adolescence, to what it felt like to be in over your head, faux cocky, fake it until you make it and then just let swing. Such a great encapsulation of boyhood.

    By contrast the female characters felt thinly written and conceived of as characters for rather than characters in and of themselves. The nostalgia displayed for boyish adolescence and childhood found no analog in the female characters' arcs.
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2016
  6. aikiMac

    aikiMac aikido + boxing = very good Moderator Supporter

    You raise good points, but I question (1) whether the show needed a "girlish adolescence and childhood" to exactly balance the Dungeons and Dragons, and the boys on bikes. And (2) that a proper girl element was actually missing.

    As to the 2nd point, Nancy's high school struggle ("Pretty in Pink" ? "Sixteen Candles" ?) was enough balance for me. I didn't need a 7th grade girl playing with a Monchichi or whatever they played with back then. (I don't have sisters and I didn't pay attention to girl toys.) It was okay to have the girl older than the "E.T." boys.

    And then as to the 1st point -- I thought Nancy's arc was the female equivalent. She started the show weak and lost because she didn't know who she was or where she was supposed to go. She ended the show strong and confident and knowing herself.

    edit:
    http://www.tzr.io/yarn-clip/4f04987a-a9cc-48c1-9809-c6f334d09492

    :dunno:
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2016
  7. philosoraptor

    philosoraptor carnivore in a top hat Supporter

    I'm not sure I needed more of it except in a few moments - everyone seemed to kind of forget about Barbara for example - but it seems like this is a consistent trend among all of the remakes and rehashes. Star Wars, Ninja Turtles, Star Trek, Transformers, Robocop, etc., etc. It's just interesting to me.

    I guess I see her story as different in that it is so focussed on the boys in her life. I think the show definitely could have used some time showing Nancy and Barbara and why they're friends, some sort of time spent just between the two of them. Barbara is Nancy's motivation, but I never got a sense of friendship between them, it just seemed like she was sort of a nag, so the lengths Nancy was willing to go to for her, well... :shrug:
     
  8. David Harrison

    David Harrison MAPper without portfolio

    Wasn't Eleven a good enough female character for you? Also, Barbara was the voice of reason who was sacrificed for being right in a selfless way, I didn't feel her role was diminished to a nag, I felt it was handled a little more cleverly than that and was part of the ironic joke. Maybe I'm reading too much into it?
     
  9. aikiMac

    aikiMac aikido + boxing = very good Moderator Supporter

    I didn't see Barbara as a nag either. She was clearly Nancy's conscience and voice of reason, but I agree that there really should have been one or two other scenes, even brief ones, to better explain her relationship with Nancy. She was sacrificed too early in the sense that we didn't quite get an explanation of why their friendship was so deep, e.g. maybe they've been friends since 4th grade, or maybe their families used to take vacations together. Something.

    In contrast, we were given the "he's your best friend" speech between Dustin and Mike. In one minute we learned why that pack of boys is so close.
     
  10. David Harrison

    David Harrison MAPper without portfolio

    You never know, those scenes with Barbara may well be sitting on the cutting room floor (or digital virtual cutting room floor, these days).
     
  11. philosoraptor

    philosoraptor carnivore in a top hat Supporter

    Note that Eleven really didn't even have a childhood to reminisce about. Her encounters with childhood are purely vicarious and through her involvement with the young gang. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't necessarily make her a bad character, but it feels like the creators of this went really far out of their way to avoid depicting female childhood.

    I liked Barbara, I didn't feel like she was a nag, but that was as far as I remember (I watched with Mrs. Raptor, there was canoodling in places) her only function with regards to the plot and the role her character occupied.

    Yeah, I mean, two minutes and thirty seconds at most. I also think Barbara should have been talked about more by the other characters - we're supposed to believe this is a small town and I guess I just felt like Ryder's character would have been like "SEE?!? There's a pattern!!!!"

    I would have cut the lame scene between Johnathan and his Dad when he's like "I have this really important thing to tell Mom!" and the Dad just kinda functions as a brake on the plot and says "Don't tell her!" then Johnathan tells her anyway in the next episode or something. I don't think this qualifies as spoilers.
     
  12. David Harrison

    David Harrison MAPper without portfolio

    Yeah, Barbara was definitely missing some scenes to get her a bit more 3D as a character. I like how Nancy had a few aspects to her and ended up being stronger than the James Dean type douche (I forget his name, and I'm too lazy to go back a page to see :p ). We might not have got female childhood, but we got a bit of female teenagedom.
     
  13. greg1075

    greg1075 Valued Member

    Over intellectualization and over exposition aficionados, here we go. :eek:
     
  14. David Harrison

    David Harrison MAPper without portfolio

    Hey, I'm into writing. I've done a bit of it myself. It's no different than breaking down a martial arts technique for those who are interested.
     
  15. aikiMac

    aikiMac aikido + boxing = very good Moderator Supporter

    Me, too, on all points. :D
     
  16. Ben Gash CLF

    Ben Gash CLF Valued Member

    This week I've been watching Elfen Lied. I was really entranced by it and I was sad it was so short and the ending so indefinite.
     
  17. Ben Gash CLF

    Ben Gash CLF Valued Member

    Watching Luke Cage and it is GOOD! Best one yet. I think it's good because they've focused more on the drama than the superhero aspect. The other good thing with the Netflix Marvel shows, is in the words of Prince "women, not girls, rule my world" and it's good to see women in their 30s playing substantial, meaningful yet still glamorous roles.
     
  18. aikiMac

    aikiMac aikido + boxing = very good Moderator Supporter

    I have to finish season 2 of "Gotham" yet, but I was wondering about the new "Luke Cage" show. I'm glad you like it because I sure liked "Daredevil" and "Jessica Jones" ! :)
     
  19. Kwajman

    Kwajman Penguin in paradise....

    We have extremely poor choices of tv where I work so I just watch Netflix. Currently watching the original Twilight Zone...
     
  20. aikiMac

    aikiMac aikido + boxing = very good Moderator Supporter

    Meh, I could get hundreds of tv channels if I wanted to, but I intentionally just watch Netflix -- because I can't stand the commercial interruptions! :woo:
     

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