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Post by ThirdMan on Jan 11, 2019 20:31:12 GMT -8
Sex Education is tame. It's not even American-Pie-level raunchy. Well, the premiere isn't, at any rate. But why "tolerate" it? If its subject matter and/or presentation isn't of interest to you, why bother?
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Post by otherscott on Jan 11, 2019 20:58:00 GMT -8
I think you’re getting the wrong impression. I’m sure if I could get through Big Mouth I would enjoy it, but I’m too squeamish. That’s what I mean by tolerate, whether I can cool down on the discomfort watching it to be able to approach the show on its level and enjoy it.
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Post by ThirdMan on Jan 12, 2019 5:16:29 GMT -8
Ah, OK. Re: Sex Education, I figured it was just you trying to force yourself to watch something that doesn't inherently interest you just because the critics like it.
Being live-action, of course, there was little chance it'd be as ridiculously over-the-top as Big Mouth, which can get away with a lot more (in terms of potentially offending critics and/or viewers) because it's animated.
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 12, 2019 15:53:49 GMT -8
I’m sure if I could get through Big Mouth I would enjoy it, but I’m too squeamish. That’s what I mean by tolerate, whether I can cool down on the discomfort watching it to be able to approach the show on its level and enjoy it. Same here. I couldn't sit through a full episode of Big Mouth precisely because the sheer level of vulgarity overshadowed any other potential qualities I might have enjoyed or appreciated. Maybe if I'd pushed forward, I'd have enjoyed it more, but the show wasn't motivating me to stick around. (It's not unique in this regard, even among Netflix comedies - I shut off Love about ten minutes into the premiere because it was annoying the daylights out of me.)
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 17, 2019 16:52:14 GMT -8
Season Two of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel is even funnier and quirkier than the first (the comedic highlight is a three-episode arc set in the Catskills). But it also feels a little stagnant, like the show doesn't know precisely how to properly build up Midge's stand-up career. And that becomes a problem as the show searches for other stories to pad out the lengthy episodes - when Rachel Brosnahan is onscreen, the show crackles with energy, but most of the supporting characters aren't well-rounded enough to carry their own storylines. Talented as Tony Shalhoub and Alex Borstein may be, they're playing exaggerated versions of real people, and they're at their best when they play off Brosnahan.
Still, the show remains a fun and pleasant comedy, with great Sherman-Palladino dialogue and one of the best soundtracks anywhere on television. It's also gorgeous to look at, featuring excellent costumes and sets perfectly in tune with the romanticized view of the late '50s/early '60s. And I do laugh at a lot of the Jewish jokes, so points for that as well. Despite the pacing issues, I'll happily keep watching.
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Post by Jay on Jan 18, 2019 23:29:16 GMT -8
I try to keep abreast of any potential horror offerings out there as long-run series. I stayed with The Walking Dead longer than anyone ought to have, I took in two seasons of The Strain before giving up on it, and reading the basic premise of The Passage and taking it as somewhere between the latter and The Girl with All the Gifts, I decided to give it a shot.
I.... uh... can't recommend it. To summarize what happened would seem pretty simple, but at the same time, something that a teenager might write: Two doctors journey to an obscure South American cave hearing legend of a 250-year-old man and hoping to Cure All Diseases. Man turns out to be a surprise vampire, infects one of the doctors. Then we flash forward a few years and apparently they've been giving other death row inmates variations on Patient Zero's blood in an attempt to Cure All Diseases except they all eventually turn bloodthirsty and highly lethal, which I guess isn't an indicator to stop so much as proceed under clandestine government sponsorship. Some bird flu outbreak in Asia prompts a greater motive to Cure All Diseases and so some shifty scientists explain that they think that the problem is the test subjects don't have enough neurons so let's go try to find a child. This sets in motion the major secondary plot in which a former special forces turned government agent goes on a mission to acquire the newly orphaned child, only to immediately go rogue with her, largely out of grief for his deceased daughter and failed marriage. Meanwhile the vampires, whom no one will call vampires and are reportedly no shows for mental activity on MRI scans, are invading people's dreams and manipulating their behaviour.
On the whole, I don't think I've explained it poorly. But I watched it and each commercial break had me asking, "that's it?" There are some very heavy-handed directorial techniques including voiceover retrospective narration, but the writing is also quite rushed and develops a sizeable cast mostly by having other characters make declarations about them. I was baffled to discover that it was penned by someone who had respectable writing credits including Friday Night Lights. I hear the pilot was rather troubled and had to be partially reshot, but it wasn't even an entertaining form of bad, it was just a "how was this the end product?" form of bad.
So, steer clear? Perhaps later eps won't suffer the same filming and editing fates but the idea that this was the resulting pitch to the public seems to bode ill.
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Post by ThirdMan on Jan 19, 2019 20:43:00 GMT -8
Quite enjoyed S1 of Sex Education. The characters are written with a good deal of complexity and heart, it has some of the most frank and thoughtful commentary on adolescent sexuality and sexual orientation on television, and it has a light enough touch that it never feels pretentious. On a plot level, it follows a familiar template for high school dramedies (yeah, the penultimate episode features a school dance), but its voice is fairly distinct in nature (helped by having a female showrunner) and the show is really quite endearing. Hopefully Netflix lets it run at least three seasons, because they've put together a solid, likeable ensemble here.
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Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Jan 23, 2019 11:22:50 GMT -8
Oh jesus, a Sopranos prequel? Really?
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 23, 2019 17:29:03 GMT -8
Dude, they announced that almost a year ago. Don't you regularly keep up with all breaking Sopranos news?
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Jan 23, 2019 19:43:03 GMT -8
The Magicians is back tonight! It's a wonderful series, probably the best genre show since POI went off the air, and it's as close as you're gonna get to a modern day Buffy. Most things wilt in comparison, but The Magicians at its best (Season 3) is actually not that far behind the quality of Buffy. That's a hell of an achievement.
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Post by Zarnium on Jan 24, 2019 7:54:09 GMT -8
I watched the first episode and thought it was terrible, and decided to wait to see if it improved. I take it that it's improved?
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Post by ThirdMan on Jan 24, 2019 10:47:35 GMT -8
Sepinwall's been praising The Magicians for some time now, for whatever that's worth.
Moving on, I noticed Ilana Glazer promoting Season 5 of Broad City (much like You're The Worst, in its final season) on a talk show this morning. Which is good, because it wasn't set to record on my DVR tonight, because last season it aired around 11:30pm Pacific on MuchMusic in Canada, and I had to reset the Series Record setting for 7pm tonight.
Speaking of tonight, I guess we're already up to the Season 3 finale of The Good Place this evening. While I'll agree that the earthbound episodes earlier in the year were lacking in some regards, returning to the original setting has, in my estimation, pretty much been a return to previous form. It's once again more philosophical/idea-driven.
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 24, 2019 13:03:44 GMT -8
The Magicians initially split critics down the middle, although I believe it has garnered more respect with time.
I plan to give it a go at some point this year, although as far as current sci-fi goes, I may try catching up with The Expanse first.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Jan 24, 2019 19:03:54 GMT -8
The Magicians initially split critics down the middle, although I believe it has garnered more respect with time. I plan to give it a go at some point this year, although as far as current sci-fi goes, I may try catching up with The Expanse first. The first season was rough. It was mediocre at best-it got really good in Season 2 and great in Season 3. The Expanse's first season is a very slow burn, but is certainly better than that of The Magicians. I'd say the leap in quality is less pronounced though. The general baseline of quality remains.
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Jan 24, 2019 19:04:21 GMT -8
I watched the first episode and thought it was terrible, and decided to wait to see if it improved. I take it that it's improved? Absolutely. I'd definitely recommend pushing through the first season.
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