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Post by Jeremy on Aug 1, 2018 20:04:28 GMT -8
I'd heard fairly awful things about the Batman and Harley Quinn film since it was released last year, but when it became available on Amazon Prime, I couldn't resist giving it a look. After all, it's the first official entry in the DCAU since 2006 - surely Bruce Timm and co. hadn't gone that far down the rabbit hole?
Um...
+ Kevin Conroy and Loren Lester are back as Batman and Nightwing, respectively. They're always a joy to hear. + During the bar scene, there are some quick cameos from some obscure BTAS characters. Always love that kind of continuity. + There are a couple of cool action scenes in the first 15 minutes (which is the only good stretch of the film).
- Harley is voiced by Melissa Rauch (Bernadette from Big Bang Theory), and her voice is really irritating. Arleen Sorkin sounds bright and peppy; Rauch is flat and lifeless. Her shtick gets old pretty fast. - Batman is constantly smiling and cracking one-liners and making weird faces. It's not very Batmanny. - There is a fart joke in this movie. It lasts approximately a minute. - For no actual reason, the film briefly decides to parody the Adam West Batman TV series sound effects. It's confusing and unfunny. But if nothing else, this is probably the first Batman film to ever make use of the phrase "Ow, my balls!" - There's kind of a rape scene in this movie. But it's played for comedy, and it's female-on-male, so I guess we're supposed to laugh? It's very hard to tell. - Poison Ivy is portrayed as a shallow and one-dimensional villain. The film sort of has a message about climate change, but it's hard to take seriously when the pro-environmental character wants to wipe out everyone on Earth. - The entire climax wobbles uncomfortably between drama and comedy, switching from one tone to the other every few seconds. None of it is dramatic, and none of it is funny. It also ends extremely abruptly, with a shot that feels straight out of a Looney Tunes short. - There's a "hilarious" post-credits sequence which lasts over three minutes. It adds nothing to the film and made me feel all sorts of empty inside.
What a dreadful movie. I can't say I was expecting Return of the Joker, but... this may well be the worst production to ever come out of the DCAU.
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Post by Jeremy on Aug 19, 2018 6:52:16 GMT -8
The first season of DuckTales just wrapped. Overall, I was really happy with it. It's not very serialized, and what few arcs there are tend to appear and disappear as the writers will it. But the individual episodes are entertaining and often quite funny. I'm not ready to call it better than the original yet, but it's a worthy successor.
My one real concern with the finale (which was quite strong overall) isn't really about the episode itself, but about the fallout from one development. The finale features a rather unexpected character death (delivered in the relatively safe Disney style), which was handled quite poignantly within the episode itself. But because this is Disney, I have a strong feeling that this death will be undone in Season Two, just so the younger viewers won't feel too bummed.
I hope I'm wrong. We'll find out when the show returns for its next season (which, given the typical Disney Channel airing schedule, should be somewhere around 2021).
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Post by Jeremy on Aug 21, 2018 15:30:16 GMT -8
The first season of Disenchantment benefits from good animation (the style is very much in line with Futurama, but with more detailed backdrops and background gags), and has some decent voicework. It's semi-serialized, taking advantage of Netflix's binge model, even though the overarching story doesn't build up a head of steam until the last few episodes.
But... it just isn't very funny. The jokes are sparser than in Groening's earlier shows, in part due to the episodes' longer runtimes (eps clock in at about 28 minutes each, with the premiere lasting over 35). And much of the humor is less inspired and more predictable than a typical Simpsons or Futurama outing.
The show is clearly trying to be a bit more serious than those other shows - at times, it feels more drama than comedy. But the balance between the two tones is not well-handled, leading to a lot of dead air when I should have been laughing.
Still, the story does start to get more interesting around Episode 8, and the finale hints at a more interesting second season. I'll probably keep watching for a bit, but this wasn't the best of freshman years.
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Post by Zarnium on Sept 17, 2018 5:14:45 GMT -8
While browsing Netflix's catalog, I discovered that they have a show called The Dragon Prince, created by one of the creaters of Avatar. It's a bit more juvenile and simplistic in its dialogue than Avatar thus far, four episodes in, but hot damn, this show is absolutely gorgeous. It has a cell-shaded 3D CGI look with an anime-style frame rate that takes some getting used to, but it really works.
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 17, 2018 9:07:46 GMT -8
Wow. Precisely how many new shows did Netflix debut this past Friday?
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Post by Zarnium on Sept 17, 2018 14:27:44 GMT -8
I remember that it used to be a big deal whenever Netflix produced a new original series, and I usually heard about them even if I had no interest in watching them. Now they pump out so many that there's a ton that get released with little to no fanfare.
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 17, 2018 15:37:57 GMT -8
That's pretty much Peak TV in a nutshell. It's also why so many of the best shows on TV these days have difficulty finding an audience.
Incidentally, here's a complete list of all the original TV shows that premiered on Netflix this past Friday:
• American Vandal: Season 2 • Boca Juniors Confidential: Season 1 • BoJack Horseman: Season 5 • Car Masters: Rust to Riches: Season 1 • Ingobernable: Season 2 • LAST HOPE: Season 1 • Norm Macdonald Has a Show: Season 1 • Super Monsters Monster Party: Songs: Season 1 • The Dragon Prince: Season 1 • The World’s Most Extraordinary Homes: Season 2 Part A
Happy bingeing, folks.
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Post by Zarnium on Sept 18, 2018 4:51:15 GMT -8
Interestingly, The Dragon Prince has a deaf character who speaks real American Sign Language, and it's detailed enough that it can be actually be read. My sister who studied it in college was impressed.
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 18, 2018 8:44:52 GMT -8
I'll put The Dragon Prince on my watchlist. Will probably give it a look in the next week or so.
Incidentally, Netflix just announced that it's making a live-action Avatar: The Last Airbender TV series, from the same creators as the original. Presumably Dragon Prince was just a warm-up?
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Post by Zarnium on Sept 18, 2018 9:48:40 GMT -8
Oh my, I can only imagine the reaction that this is going to cause. At least a TV series will actually have enough runtime, unlike the movie.
If there's going to be more Avatar material, I'd much rather have another animated sequel, though.
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Post by Jeremy on Sept 18, 2018 12:28:11 GMT -8
My hope for the live-action TV series is that it will overshadow and ultimately nullify the existence of the live-action movie. This should be top priority for all involved.
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Post by Zarnium on Sept 19, 2018 20:14:55 GMT -8
I finished season 1 of The Dragon Prince, and the writing improves steadily over the course of just nine episodes, even if it's not top-notch quality yet. I think it shows a lot of promise. And again, the animation and art are fantastic; I've seen this sort of "3D CGI that's made to look kind of like traditional animation" in varying amounts before in shows like Kado: The Right Answer and Blassreiter, and this is the first time I've been truly impressed with it rather than it feeling like it was only used for budget reasons.
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Post by Jeremy on Nov 27, 2018 14:24:40 GMT -8
RIP Stephen Hillenburg. Spongebob Squarepants was one of the most revolutionary animated shows of the early '00s, influencing virtually every Nickelodeon and Cartoon Network series over the next decade. Sad to see the creator pass at the young age of 57.
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Post by Zarnium on Nov 28, 2018 15:24:23 GMT -8
Sad... but in a sense, isn't he still a part of all of us? He's Stephen Hillenburg, I'm Stephen Hillenburg, we're both Stephen Hillenburg.
That's just my lame attempt to work a SpongeBob joke in here. The show was genuinely funny back when he was working on it, and I still quote some of the lines to this day. RIP.
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Post by Jeremy on Nov 28, 2018 18:14:11 GMT -8
I haven't watched a new SpongeBob episode in years (unless you count the Sponge Out of Water film), but its sheer longevity is testament to how durable the character and environment are. Astonishing that the show is about to celebrate its 20th anniversary, with more episodes and even a third film on the way. Hillenburg has left an incredible legacy behind him.
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