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Post by Jeremy on Aug 29, 2023 19:01:25 GMT -8
I was referring to the Nightwing's lack of character. Looks like I misjudged the airing schedule, though. It does feel like some of these episodes aired a while ago.
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Post by otherscott on Aug 30, 2023 12:18:23 GMT -8
I have started watching Harley Quinn's first couple of seasons which have shown up on Netflix now after not being available streaming for a while here in Canada. I don't have much to say about it except Bane is one of my favourite comedic characters I've seen for a little while, and it is solidly a good show. Not amazing or anything, but good.
I also watched Beef, which recovered quite well from a first couple of episodes I wasn't really vibing with to become really deep and thoughtful on self-destructive tendencies. It's not quite at Bojack levels in terms of balancing very silly humour with similar themes, but it takes bigger wilder shots than Bojack ever did which I do admire.
I've started season 2 of The Bear and I'm too early into it to see if it deserves quite as many platitudes as it has received so far this season.
Finally, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds continues to be considerably better than any other ST I've seen to this point (which isn't saying a ton, I've never been big into Trek) and has some very strong episodes this season, and should solidly land in my top 10 for the year once again. It does have some of the same tendencies of the fanbase that other sci-fi shows have where it gets way too much applause for doing very basic things correctly, but I did really like the season and I continue to wish more TV did the same level of episodic character focus that SNW is doing.
Getting to be increasingly slim pickings in current TV because of the strike, so I am happy to dig back into my to watch lists which needs some trimming.
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 1, 2023 14:54:39 GMT -8
I'm halfway through Season Two of The Bear - just watched the hourlong flashback episode, which was outstanding - and I'd say it's largely measuring up to the first. It just builds tension like few other shows can manage, which can make it very stressful to watch but also quite rewarding. It's a likely frontrunner for the Outstanding Comedy Emmy, which is ironic considering it probably features less comedy each episode than the average ep of Succession.
I may kick off Strange New Worlds shortly, once I re-up Paramount+. I have been watching Ahsoka, which is decent but nothing groundbreaking thus far. It may help if I had more familiarity with the Clone Wars sector of the Star Wars universe, but it's easy enough to follow. Action scenes are well-staged and production values are high (I continue to be amazed and bewildered at how the Star Wars shows look so much better than the Marvel shows). I believe it's also the first major Star Wars production with a predominantly female cast, and despite the fact that the two leads are both nonwhite women, Disney did not feel compelled to release a statement telling us that they oppose all the millions of racist fanboys in the Star Wars fan community. I call that progress.
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Post by ThirdMan on Sept 1, 2023 22:52:54 GMT -8
I finished up Succession last weekend. I think it's a good, well-acted and -written series. Yes, most of the characters are not meant to be particularly likeable, but the characterizations have some nuance and depth, and more importantly (for me), the dialogue has a fair amount of clever dark humour to offset the relative lack of sympathy we have for the protagonists. The dialogue is very coarse and sexually-explicit in nature much of the time, so that's gonna be an obvious turnoff for some folks, but I was sufficiently amused. The ending of the series is also entirely appropriate, given what had gone before. Anyways, I don't know that I'd consider the series an "All-Time-Great", but I don't really take too much issue with it winning awards or anything, as the ensemble cast, writing, and production are solid overall, and I found it reasonably engrossing.
I'll also casually note that I very much enjoyed this past season of What We Do In The Shadows. Nothing genuinely shocking happened (how could it, really?), but in general, it just remains in the groove. The actors know their characters well, and are virtually always on-point. Very consistent over five seasons, IMO, and a very easy watch. Matt Berry is a treasure, and Harvey Guillen remains rather adorable.
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Post by ThirdMan on Sept 8, 2023 2:39:51 GMT -8
They're offering Disney-Plus for $2 a month for the next three months, so I decided to get caught up on some (mostly FX-adjacent) shows. I'm now up to Season 2, Episode 3 of Reservation Dogs. The cast is likeable, and the show's fairly amusing, but I just don't see anything all that exceptional about it, creatively. It's just a nice, gentle, modest little series, fine for what it is, but not something I'd rank at or near the top of any Top 10 list. It'd have to be more emotionally powerful, clever/funny, or structurally ambitious to get there for me. It's depicting a culture that's very underrepresented in media, though, and I suppose presenting an honest modern depiction of said culture is perhaps enough to warrant huge praise from some critics and audience members, which is cool, I guess. (Disney-Plus obviously lags behind the show's original broadcast, so I won't race through Season 3, as only episode 3 of that season is available at this point.)
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 8, 2023 14:58:47 GMT -8
Not sure what the general consensus is, but I find Reservation Dogs most interesting in the episodes that center on just one of the four leads, rather than the gang in general. The show is usually more creatively successful when it sharpens its focus.
I do agree that it's a touch overhyped by a lot of critics - it's well-done, but not as distinctive or quirky as some of the other half-hour FX dramedies it's emulating. But it does produce more of a variety of tones than most shows on TV - can be very funny one week, and quite poignant the next. It's the kind of coming-of-age story we've seen done before, but executed with a bit more delicacy than it needs to.
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Post by ThirdMan on Sept 9, 2023 2:07:56 GMT -8
I can see where you're coming from w/r/t episodes focusing on one major character (in deepening the characters), but I kind of feel like any semblance of forward story momentum that the show has comes to a standstill during those episodes as well. At any rate, I don't mean to disparage the show -- it's certainly likeable and watchable enough -- but it reminds me of the sort of low-budget ensemble dramedy that would air on the CBC in Canada. It didn't surprise me when I noticed many of the main actors are, in fact, Canadian. Alan Sepinwall has been one of this show's biggest supporters, putting it at #1 on his TV Top 10 list in 2022 -- ahead of Better Call Saul, Atlanta, and Barry, which are far more impressive and entertaining series to me -- and #2 the year before. I just expected a bit more artistic ambition, given the praise, is all.
(ETA: I should note that I just finished Season 2, and the last three episodes are indeed quite strong. But I still don't think that it matches those other three shows I mentioned, overall.)
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 10, 2023 19:49:31 GMT -8
I'm also a bit surprised at the number of critics who have put the show at or near the top of their "best of the year" lists (it did make the lower end of my Top 10 last year, though that was only after some debate; I'm still thinking I should have made room for Andor). I would say that, while it's not as good as Atlanta, Barry, et al, it does strike a fairly distinctive tone between comedy and drama, even if it's obviously more comedically subdued than FX's other Taika Waititi-produced half-hour series. (Well, except for "Decolonativization," which might be the funniest woke satire I've seen lately outside of Bodies Bodies Bodies.)
In any case, I'm fine with the current third season being the show's last. I appreciate what it's doing, but it's not a series built to last forever, so I can understand the writers wanting to wrap it up before it risks growing stale.
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Post by ThirdMan on Sept 11, 2023 8:38:37 GMT -8
I'll never complain when a show has an intentionally concise, three-to-four-season run. I'm stalled out at Episode 3 of Season 3 now (a strong, artful episode about The Deer Lady), so I'll have to watch the remaining episodes as they emerge weekly on Disney-Plus (I think they're about four or five weeks behind the Hulu broadcast).Truth be told, though, half-hour shows that jump between comedy and drama are actually pretty common these days (especially on cable), but the show does have some pretty wild extremes at times, going for very serious, heartfelt emotion one episode to full-blown absurdist humour the next (the woke satire you mentioned, or the cop's drug-trip episode with the catfish-****ing cult).
In the meantime, I'll probably start on Season 2 of The Bear, and likely give Andor a look as well. It's pretty slim pickings on the movie side of things on Disney-Plus, if one has already seen most of the main Pixar, Star Wars, and Marvel films. I suspect a lot of these studios are recognizing how much money they're losing by hosting all of their top movies and shows on their streaming service for a relatively low price, so they're just keeping the essential ones, and licensing some of their other materials (say, the Disney-owned 20th Century Fox catalogue) out to other streaming services.
Oh, another thing: I'm trying to remember if I've watched any of Season 2 of Only Murders In the Building (I suspect I watched the first few episodes a year ago). Did you drop that show after being disappointed by its second season, or are you still keeping an eye on it? And I'm probably going to wait to see how well Season 2 of Severance (whenever that comes out) is received before jumping in on a temporary Apple-TV membership.
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Post by otherscott on Sept 11, 2023 12:45:50 GMT -8
I do want to make a comment on the "forward momentum" of Reservation Dogs, because to me it's never been a show that particularly needs momentum. I think the show works best as a series of vignettes about life on the reserve, hence why the episodes that focus on the individuals tend to be stronger than any of the episodes that moves the "relationship of the group" forward. I don't think the show particularly needs an overarching plot, which is why the second season which is really about nothing to me is stronger than the first season which had a drive of getting the kids to California, and had to dedicate episodes to that goal.
I originally had the show in my top 10 for 2022 when it was posted right in the 10th spot, though it has since fallen out as I keep updating the lists now after the year has passed based on what I see in the future.
I really like Apple TV as a streamer, it maybe has my overall favourite originals that I can actually watch right away (which is where FX/ Hulu falters, I'm always forced to catch up after the fact). That being said, this year hasn't been a banner year for the service at all. In Canada terms, my top 3 current shows of 2023 and 5 of my top 7 are all on Crave, keeping in mind that I'm behind on the FX/Hulu/ Disney Plus/ Star stuff.
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 11, 2023 20:23:37 GMT -8
I've given up on trying to figure out which streaming services are accessible in which country and which shows are available where. From what I can tell, "Star" is the overseas version of the Disney bundle, and Hulu is basically a Disney+ extension outside the US. Or something. In any event, the "relatively low price" isn't so relative anymore - Disney+ has basically doubled its price since its debut. (It was $7/month in early 2021, and is now raising to $14/month.) Oh, another thing: I'm trying to remember if I've watched any of Season 2 of Only Murders In the Building (I suspect I watched the first few episodes a year ago). Did you drop that show after being disappointed by its second season, or are you still keeping an eye on it? And I'm probably going to wait to see how well Season 2 of Severance (whenever that comes out) is received before jumping in on a temporary Apple-TV membership. I kind of tapped out early in Only Murders S2, which felt very artificial after the lightning-in-a-bottle first season. But I have been hearing good things about S3, so maybe I'll re-up it. Severance probably won't be back for a while; I fear that the Hollywood strikes could screw up production on the sophomore seasons of both that and Andor. I do want to make a comment on the "forward momentum" of Reservation Dogs, because to me it's never been a show that particularly needs momentum. I think the show works best as a series of vignettes about life on the reserve, hence why the episodes that focus on the individuals tend to be stronger than any of the episodes that moves the "relationship of the group" forward. I don't think the show particularly needs an overarching plot, which is why the second season which is really about nothing to me is stronger than the first season which had a drive of getting the kids to California, and had to dedicate episodes to that goal. Fully agree; Reservation Dogs is a show where I'm always more interested in the parts than the whole. That may keep it from being one of my top shows, but it's the one of the more interesting series to check out week-to-week. |
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Post by otherscott on Sept 12, 2023 5:31:20 GMT -8
I've given up on trying to figure out which streaming services are accessible in which country and which shows are available where. From what I can tell, "Star" is the overseas version of the Disney bundle, and Hulu is basically a Disney+ extension outside the US. Or something. In any event, the "relatively low price" isn't so relative anymore - Disney+ has basically doubled its price since its debut. (It was $7/month in early 2021, and is now raising to $14/month.) Yeah, that was meant more for ThirdMan who has a bit more familiarity with Canadian streaming services because it is confusing. Basically everything related to Disney, Hulu, or FX is on the Disney Plus service in Canada, but the more adult Hulu, FX and movies are in a tab referred to as "Star" which is a dumb name. It definitely makes Disney Plus a more worthwhile service in Canada because it incorporates all of Hulu as well, but a lot of the time the Hulu stuff arrives a month after the fact and the FX stuff can arrive a year or more after the fact. |
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Post by ThirdMan on Sept 12, 2023 11:14:11 GMT -8
Yeah, the shows on Star (I don't know where that name originated, but it sounds kind of like a -- here's an old Canadian TV reference -- SuperChannel) are the only things I'm catching up on on the Disney-Plus app, outside of Andor. It'll probably be the end of October before I'm able to watch the series finale of Reservation Dogs. As for "momentum" w/r/t RD, I'm generally fine with its laid-back nature, but I do tend to prefer shows that ultimately build towards some sort of climax as a season approaches its end. Not so much "plot", but at least a small amount of urgency in the storytelling.
And Jeremy, if a film studio/media conglomerate like Disney, which owns practically everything, were to offer everything they have the rights to on one streaming service, $14 per month would indeed be, to me, a very low price, and they'd be throwing away a lot of potential profit. But as it stands, it seems like it's been scaled back quite a bit, in terms of the overall content on offer.
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 12, 2023 16:41:40 GMT -8
Star seems to be the equivalent of Hulu in the USA at this point - since Hulu has basically become the place for any Disney-produced shows that are too adult to fit under the "Disney" label. (Although Disney Plus also includes R-rated Marvel content like Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and the Deadpool movies. Consistency only goes so far when it comes to superhero brands.) Star sounds like that, except included as a part of Disney, rather than an entirely separate service that you have the option of bundling it together with. To make this even more confusing, there is a separate streaming service called HotStar (no relation to Star) that is home to Bollywood productions and is included with Hulu in the USA, and is apparently included with Disney Plus in other countries. So in the USA, we can subscribe to Disney Plus, which does not have Star, but can be bundled with Hulu, which is kind of like Star, except it has HotStar, which is otherwise included with DIsney Plus, along with Star. Or something! And Jeremy, if a film studio/media conglomerate like Disney, which owns practically everything, were to offer everything they have the rights to on one streaming service, $14 per month would indeed be, to me, a very low price, and they'd be throwing away a lot of potential profit. But as it stands, it seems like it's been scaled back quite a bit, in terms of the overall content on offer. Ah, but keep in mind that Disney Plus in the States does not include Hulu on its own. Getting the bundle of the two services will cost at least $20/month, a price that is itself likely to increase in short order as well. (Truth told, I usually subscribe to the ad-supported version of Hulu, although I've temporarily switched to the ad-free version, since there are at least a half-dozen Hulu shows I'm currently in middle of and I can only watch the same Progressive ad so many times before my mind snaps in twain.) |
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Post by otherscott on Sept 14, 2023 18:59:38 GMT -8
The Bear had a decent first half of its season, but really kicked it into gear in the second half with an astonishingly good run of episodes. Starting with the "Fishes" / "Forks" back to back which is about as good a middle of the season double header of episodes as I've seen with completely different tones, it rode that momentum to let those episodes completely colour and add depth to the rest of the season.
The finale was also very good, really the first time all season that The Bear felt like its season 1 self but in a way that added all the burdens of Season 2 on top of it.
Really impressed by this season of television - might be the ongoing show I'm most looking forward to seeing where it goes next and will be a highly anticipated Season 3.
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