Quiara
Grade School
Posts: 775
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Post by Quiara on Jan 24, 2019 19:33:41 GMT -8
The Magicians initially split critics down the middle, although I believe it has garnered more respect with time. Is this a case where the critics who didn't like it all jumped ship early, until the only people still watching it were the ones already enamored with it?
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 24, 2019 19:33:52 GMT -8
I've herd a number of Buffy comparisons, many of them favorable. That's unusual, since typically shows that try to ape Buffy end up falling on their faces. (Case in point: Netflix's goofy and convoluted Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, which steals shamelessly from the Buffyverse. The episode "Dreams in a Witch House" is such a blatant "Restless" ripoff that Mutant Enemy should probably sue for royalties.) Is this a case where the critics who didn't like it all jumped ship early, until the only people still watching it were the ones already enamored with it? I don't think so. Sepinwall's Season One review was mixed, but his take on Season Two was quite positive. Probably some critics jumped ship early, but that's the downside of the Peak era. ( Halt and Catch Fire had a similar route.)
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Jan 24, 2019 19:46:56 GMT -8
The Magicians initially split critics down the middle, although I believe it has garnered more respect with time. Is this a case where the critics who didn't like it all jumped ship early, until the only people still watching it were the ones already enamored with it? No-most fans would tell you that Season 1 was really weak-it was.
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 25, 2019 12:35:21 GMT -8
Speaking of The Magicians, I just finished Season One of You. (Both shows are from the same showrunner. See how eloquently I tie things together?)
The show has become something of an online phenomenon in the last month - though originally produced for Lifetime, it's become a massive hit on Netflix. And I can sort of see why - the concept of a "stalker drama" is creepy and unsettling, but in just the sort of twistedly entertaining way to make it palpable for the #MeToo era.
The show moves fast, and burns through a lot of story in its 10-episode season. This makes for an easy watch, even though it sets up potential problems for Season Two (which will be released to Netflix exclusively). The actors are quite good, with Penn Badgley perfectly threading the line between charming gentleman and creepy sociopath. His character is an awful person, but he's compulsively watchable all the same.
The show is not subtle, and at times feels like it's pandering to its millenial-age audience. But it's still pretty entertaining. However much Season Two sucks - and it will probably suck a fair deal - the first season of You was certainly better than I'd expected it to be.
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Post by otherscott on Jan 30, 2019 6:27:07 GMT -8
S1 of Sex Education was...not very good. This is overall very, very standard teen fare trying to hide behind the fact that it's trying to be sexually adventurous and explicit. Really, after the first episode I don't even think there's anything there that Jeremy would complain about from an explicity standpoint, which is probably for the best, but it also means the show loses its main point of uniqueness among teen high school shows.
It's just filled with way too many teen cliches and caps off with one of the main characters arriving to proclaim their feelings right as another main character is kissing another girl! This is grounbreaking stuff, folks.
I guess it's kind of sweet but in the cutesy way that most teen romances are - kind of an empty calorie sweetness. Overall, this was not my thing and I won't be back for a second season. Then again, I hated To All the Boys I've Loved Before, and think this is better than that and in a similar vein (with a lot more sex stuff). So, adjust your personal taste barometer accordingly.
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Post by ThirdMan on Jan 30, 2019 13:01:05 GMT -8
Oh, it's full of standard high school drama tropes, to be sure. But I thought Emma Mackey did strong, nuanced work, as did Ncuti Gatwa as Otis's gay best friend, who had a pretty solid arc. Gillian Anderson's fling with the handyman had its appeal as well. I don't expect these shows to reinvent the wheel, but if they have engaging enough characters/actors, and don't run for too many episodes (this only had eight), I'll indulge them from time-to-time. And regarding explicit content, Jer would probably be taken aback by the party sequence with the bananas, at the very least, as well as the cell phone image that made the rounds in one episode. But overall, yeah, most of the "shock value", if you want to call it that, is in the premiere.
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 30, 2019 17:52:29 GMT -8
Starting off with R material and then tapering off seems to be a common theme among Netflix shows. The first episode of Everything Sucks! features a pointless moment of nudity, but later episodes all avoid any such scenes. And arguably the grossest episode of Orange is the New Black is the pilot, due to a couple of choice NSFW scenes. Then again, I hated To All the Boys I've Loved Before, and think this is better than that and in a similar vein (with a lot more sex stuff). So, adjust your personal taste barometer accordingly. See, what's funny is that although I was really impressed by TAtBILB at the time I watched it, the film had essentially evaporated from my mind within a few weeks. ( Eighth Grade still sticks with me, though. Now that's an all-time great high school film. Or... pre-high school film. Whatever.)
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Post by ThirdMan on Jan 31, 2019 2:02:17 GMT -8
Speaking of Netflix, Russian Doll seems like it might be interesting.
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Post by Jeremy on Jan 31, 2019 17:28:34 GMT -8
Season One of The Expanse is certainly ambitious. The show follows in the footsteps of Battlestar Galactica in the way it depicts a structurally and morally complex futuristic society with a good deal of grit and grunge on both the spaceships and their pilots. The show is equal parts mystery, space opera, and political thriller, and it's impressive how well it keeps up that balancing act.
If there's a problem, it's that (again, like Battlestar), the characters can feel kind of emotionally distant, since the warzone-like world they inhabit has somewhat numbed them. It's a pretty bleak show, which offers up a lot of evocative drama - but some of it isn't quite as resonant as I would like. Still, credit to the actors (particularly Steven Strait and the underused Shohreh Aghdashloo) for the way they feel fully immersed in their surroundings.
I'll probably watch Season Two before long, as the show's continued development should be interesting. (No, before you ask, I have not read the books.)
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Post by Incandescence 112 on Feb 1, 2019 8:09:46 GMT -8
Season One of The Expanse is certainly ambitious. The show follows in the footsteps of Battlestar Galactica in the way it depicts a structurally and morally complex futuristic society with a good deal of grit and grunge on both the spaceships and their pilots. The show is equal parts mystery, space opera, and political thriller, and it's impressive how well it keeps up that balancing act. If there's a problem, it's that (again, like Battlestar), the characters can feel kind of emotionally distant, since the warzone-like world they inhabit has somewhat numbed them. It's a pretty bleak show, which offers up a lot of evocative drama - but some of it isn't quite as resonant as I would like. Still, credit to the actors (particularly Steven Strait and the underused Shohreh Aghdashloo) for the way they feel fully immersed in their surroundings. I'll probably watch Season Two before long, as the show's continued development should be interesting. (No, before you ask, I have not read the books.) Glad you enjoyed it. I pretty much agree with everything you said-the characters never really fully click on an emotional level. But the world-building is extremely impressive, and unlike BSG, won't collapse under its own weight (the authors know where they want the story to go-they have 9 books planned, of which 7 have been released-and the story is good). If they adapt properly.
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 1, 2019 13:08:12 GMT -8
It's funny - after reading the new Gross/Altman book, I'm actually tempted to revisit the first season or two of BSG... but yep, I've got no interest in those later seasons. Hopefully, The Expanse sustains itself better than that show did; having a template to follow is a promising sign.
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Post by Zarnium on Feb 1, 2019 18:25:34 GMT -8
The Expanse is also super hard sci-fi, which hopefully will leave it less room for the magical nonsense that plagued BSG.
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Post by otherscott on Feb 2, 2019 14:11:10 GMT -8
I'm up to Season 5 on my Mad Men rewatch - I think when the show heads into the late 60s is where it goes from great all timer to best show of all time. It (somewhat) subtly switches themes from the lack of satisfaction of being at the top and having everything to focus on how time can pass you by and you just want to go back to having everything again and wish you could enjoy it more. This show is so good.
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Post by Jeremy on Feb 2, 2019 16:26:15 GMT -8
Scott, are you saying you don't agree with Paper Bag Guy? (Sorry. Been waiting to use this for a while.)
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Post by ThirdMan on Feb 3, 2019 0:40:05 GMT -8
It's funny. My boss mentioned to me a while back that he didn't much care for Mad Men, yet he nonetheless watched the entire series. That's some commitment!
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