Funny, she's one of the things I like a lot about the show (and yes, I am reading back).Originally Posted by Aimless
Funny, she's one of the things I like a lot about the show (and yes, I am reading back).
Congratulations America
Oh no, she's fantastic in the showI was apprehensive because her presence is so powerful that it always feels like she's playing the same character—namely herself.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Indeed, she has a powerful presence. But in the right role, as she is as Chrisjen Avasarala, she is supreme. And so I agree with Hazir, she is one of the main things that The Expanse so watchable. Great casting there.
Am I a bad person that The Expanse doesn't really do it for me? I mean I watch a few episodes here and there but leave it and come back months later. It doesn't really grip me all that much, even if the production value is really solid as is some of the acting. Part of it might be that I only read Leviathan Wakes and didn't really like it all that much... seemed to be rehashing existing tropes a bit too much for me. *shrugs*
I'm ashamed to admit that I've been re-watching Chuck for the umpteenth time. IMO that show has nearly infinite rewatch potential, especially the first couple of seasons. The premise is solidly absurd, the plotting is barely existent, it's blatantly and unapologetically aimed at mass consumption. But it's like someone decided they wanted to make a spy thriller version of The Office - but instead of making it mopey and bitter (albeit hilarious), they just made it lighthearted and absurd. And all of the characters are so fundamentally likable, even if they're caricatures.
It's perfect 2020 watching material. That and Parks and Rec, which I recently started watching and absolutely love for similar reasons.
"When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." - Werner Heisenberg (maybe)
It's a funny thing, what grips you and engages, and what doesn't.
Yes I was gripped from the get-go with The Expanse. I swallowed it greedily chunk by chunk, licked my lips and hungered for more. Sure there are niggles and the odd jarring aspects, but what show on this production scale doesn't have those. So long as the niggles don't break the suspension of disbelief, it's all good.
And then you mention loving Parks and Recreation of which I watched a few episodes, shrugged, and didn't care for more. These faux reality shows I feel are much better done by the British. There is a subtlety to this type of humour which the British to do so well, a cringe-worthiness to it that leads you to watch it half from behind your hands because it makes you so uncomfortable. American equivalents are too, I don't know, obvious? The British The Office was so much better than the American spin-off - David Brent was so awful it was brilliant. I'm a big fan of Steve Carrell - he tends to play parts that I find hilarious, but Michael Scott didn't work for me.
Twenty-twelve and its follow-up W1A with Hugh Bonneville and Olivia Coleman are other examples of hilarious UK faux reality shows that I've loved, and more recently This Country, whose characters are so useless, depressing and abject it makes for great viewing. Parks and Recreation tries to do the same thing, with depressing and useless characters, but fails to engage.
I suppose humour is about the most individual of things. I go to comedy festivals with friends, one of which is an annual thing. I will watch a stand-up who engages, typically of the slightly surreal kind, and I will be gasping for breath with tears streaming down my face I'm laughing so much, and I turn to my partner and friends and they're puzzled, not getting it at all and can't understand what I find so funny. Then the next stand-up will come on, and I'll be bored, yet my friends will be slapping their thighs finding it hilarious.
Last edited by Timbuk2; 07-26-2020 at 09:04 AM.
It's funny, I actually watched a few episodes of Parks and Rec years ago and didn't really enjoy it. I only came back to it on the recommendation of a friend. The first (6 episode) season was really finding its legs - they made some subtle shifts in the characters thereafter that really paid off - Leslie went from being earnest but clueless to being earnest and capable, which was miles better. They also hit their stride with some other characters and writing. I normally don't like the mockumentary style all that much - I thought all three versions of The Office that I've seen had their good parts, but nothing that made me a rabid fan. And it's possible that if I were watching Parks and Rec in a normal time, I'd feel the same way. But it's not a normal time - and seeing a genuinely dedicated public servant try to make her little slice of the world a better place - bureaucracy and incompetence be damned - is, frankly, heartwarming. It's amusing feel-good television and about a thousand times better than me watching some police procedural, SF shoot-em-up, or whatever else.
"When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." - Werner Heisenberg (maybe)
Ok, well I'll persist beyond S1 and see how it goes
Someone recommended Brooklyn Nine-Nine and told me I'd love it if I liked P&R. I really couldn't bring myself to stick with P&R, and was ambivalent about B99 at first... but I stuck with it just a little longer and now it's one of my all-time favourite shows. The writing is excellent, but it's mostly about how good the actors are at bringing their characters to life—and the chemistry they have with each other. The books on which The Expanse is based are not as good as the show, but the show really brings those books to life; reading them becomes much more enjoyable when you have the characters from the show in your head. Each actor seems to have a very good sense of the person they're portraying, and they have fantastic chemistry.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Been watching Attack on Titan, a simply crazy, and well done, Anime show about a world dominated by naked giants that obsessively eat people. Seasons 1-3 are on Hulu and the dubbing is very good, if you're not fluent and/or a speed reader.
The Rules
Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)
About to finish the entire second season of Umbrella Academy in one sitting.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Not heard of that before until recently saw it advertised on Netflix. Seems to be very watchable.
Will check it out this week.
Season 1 was cool but a bit hit-or-miss. Season 2 is one of the best seasons of a show I've ever seen, apart from a couple of pacing errors and the fake Swedish. They really connect with their characters, have good chemistry, the direction & editing is excellent, dope soundtrack, good balance between drama and comedy, very well realized supporting characters. There's a Dirk Gently vibe but more refined. IMO anywayDefinitely made to be binged, don't approach it as if you're an adult with responsibilities
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
The second season was a lot of fun to watch. I'd agree about planning to binge the show, though - I started it in the early evening and didn't even want to tear myself away to cook and eat dinner.
We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.
Forced myself to sit through The Old Guard. Cool premise, no soul, execution reminiscent of generic teen scifi drama. Stilted dialogue. Passable action choreography, but unsatisfying action sequences. Almost no standout scenes. Bad soundtrack. Uninteresting villain. Inadequate worldbuilding. Practically no chemistry—Nicky & Joe notwithstanding. Fails at melodrama and the portrayal of personal tragedy (apart from one scene with Booker). Tries too hard to be cool, but lacks style. Not provocatively bad, just didn't work out. I agree with the bad reviews and am having difficulties understanding where the enthusiasm about this movie (in both critic reviews & audience reviews) is coming from. Just not seeing it at all.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Yes, forced.
It IS a pretty crappy movie.
Just started watching Tales from the Loop. Oh, man, this is a show that knows how to get to me. I love the neofuturist style, love the pacing, the melancholy music. I love hearkening back to those rare research towns full of wildly overeducated scientists (amusingly parodied in Eureka, but far more poignant here). It has some of the same stylings of Stranger Things, but without the same conspiratorial and horror bent. It's just a visual and aural treat.
No idea if the plot or characters are any good yet, but I don't really care.
A while back I got a CBS subscription for a month to try out the new Star Treks. Discovery (S1 and S2) was okay; I'll admit that I totally did not see some of the twists coming, and I think the Burnham character is one of the more interesting ones, especially as a show's lead not being a captain. I do find it annoying when they have to recycle ideas and plot points so much... but some of the new stuff they came up with was so ridiculous (and borderline mystical?) that maybe it's better that they stick to tried-and-true plotlines. I'd say it has some promise but definitely has some uneven parts.
Picard... hmm. A lot of this was obviously a sop to old fans, with the various cameos and inside references. That kinda reminded me of some of Episodes 7-9 of Star Wars - trying a bit too hard to please fans. But there was a lot of new(ish) territory covered, as well. The good: they were willing to make some real changes to the world and explore things in a way that was hard on the five main series prior to the reboot. Patrick Stewart has an undeniable presence and he can single-handedly carry a whole hell of a lot. I love what they did with his character; some tendencies and issues they touched on in TNG and the movies got explored in new and interesting ways, and I think following up on the Data plotline was really interesting.
The bad: well, there's a bunch. First, the whole 'AI singularity' story isn't very new or interesting, and I don't think they had a meaningfully 'Star Trek' take on it. I also think that one of the best parts about Star Trek is that they describe a post-scarcity utopia; this fundamentally optimistic view of the future is something that really makes it stand out, and allows them to explore different kinds of stories than are covered in much of SF. Perhaps it's wildly unlikely but I've never really cared. One of the better things about DS9 was that it explored how the rest of the galaxy continues to work, and the friction at the edges of the Federation in their interactions with other civilizations, political, and economic systems. The Dominion War led to compromises and a militarization of Starfleet that was both saddening but a thoughtful take on how a utopian society responds to threat. It was also, in many ways, more realistic.
Yet the central conceit at the heart of Picard (no real spoilers, no worries) is that the Federation and Starfleet have failed to live up to their ideals, in more ways than one. We already saw this taint on the Federation with the introduction of the Section 31 storyline in DS9 (and carried forward in other films/shows), which while fascinating was narratively problematic. But Picard really amplified this and turned it into a searing indictment of the so-called enlightened utopia that is the Federation. Maybe that's a fair narrative choice to make, and maybe they were making a not-too-subtle point about the West and its treatment of the Other and refugees (Star Trek has never been shy about reflecting current events)... but it tarnishes things in a way that is hard to reverse. I don't want Star Trek to be just another futuristic SF show... I want it to be infuriatingly utopian and idealistic.
But that didn't stop me from absolutely loving Stewart's performance and getting just a touch misty-eyed at the end.
"When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." - Werner Heisenberg (maybe)
I watched this a couple months back. I generally liked it, though a little too melancholy in tone, I think, and not just the music. There's a big plot move that involves, imho, a terrible betrayal, and I thought the fallout of its revelation wasn't particularly believable. Would be interested in your take on it once you finish.
The Rules
Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)
Warrior Nun on Netflix. It's kinda cheesy and formulaic, but still very entertaining. The actors are really great, as are the locations, with just enough script humor and CGI to make it work.
Project Power
Excellent despite the deus ex machina climax and the clumsy use of music. Cool premise, solid cast, decent action sequences, some really innovative direction. Story's simplistic given the 2h runtime, and it doesn't feel cinematic, but I really liked the character interactions. The antagonists were cardboard cutouts, extremely disappointing. Still, pretty dope overall
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
Umbrella Academy. Enjoying it so far. Some of the characters are more fun to watch than the others.
Hope is the denial of reality
We finished "Brave new world" s01 on HBO.
I would say it's inspired by the book but takes another twist.
I guess it's a 7.5 out of 10.
Started watching "Tabula Rasa" on Netflix, so far it is pretty good.
Alive S07 (survival reality show), so far great as well.
"Morden i Sandhamn" - Swedish relax serie, prefect with a glass of white before bed or to start the evening with. :-p
I finished it today. Maybe it's just me, but I rarely find something too melancholy. I thought that at times it was absolutely heartbreaking, and almost always bittersweet. But do you know that feeling you get when you finish a really good book? Where the plot lines are more or less tied up, and you have to say goodbye to your characters? Especially when things didn't always work out nice and tidy like one might want? That feeling during the denouement - it's a sort of loss, a farewell... that's how I'd describe the feeling of this show.
It's all about the ephemeral nature of life, and the complexities of families (both biological and chosen ones)... it's about how loss shapes us, for better or worse.
The best kind of science fiction doesn't just build a futuristic world and explore the ramifications of a given set of conditions. The best kind holds up a mirror to the human condition, where technology or the future are merely foils to explore a point. People are essentially unchanged from our pre-technological ancestors, but the powers we manipulate now - or in the fictional world of the Loop - are far greater. And human fallibility gets magnified or is at least thrown into sharp relief. (I think focusing much of the stories on children really helped here - otherwise there would have been a tendency to descend into technobabble and rationalization of the phenomena, rather than just experiencing them.)
I loved it. I know there is criticism of e.g. Glass' music, but I thought it was well suited. The visuals were generally pitch perfect, though I'll admit there was some unevenness in the execution of that artistic vision - the first episode really blew me away, and several other ones really nailed it, but a few could have used some tweaking. I suspect the varying directing might be blamed for some inconsistencies.
Were there plot holes you could drive a freight train through? Sure. But this wasn't that kind of series. It was about people, and the acting was superb.
To address your specific concern, yeah perhaps the fallout from what happened to J was muted (at least, that we know of). But what could they honestly have done? And it's not like J was entirely innocent of blame for the events. I don't think it really mattered what happened on that front - we also never learn what happens to George's 'friends' in 'Enemies' but I didn't really care about that either.
A side note: I insisted my wife try watching it with me, and after the first episode she said she was bored and didn't want to see any more. I am now seriously rethinking my life choices.
"When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." - Werner Heisenberg (maybe)
The worst of them create drama for the sake of it, though. I don't consider it to be science fiction if the whole thing might as well be set in a completely different setting, devoid of technology.
I simply hate all those movies / series where they send supposedly trained astronauts somewhere and they all become unglued at the slightest of hiccups (or even create said hiccup in the first place).
When the stars threw down their spears
And watered heaven with their tears:
Did he smile his work to see?
Did he who made the lamb make thee?
Have you seen the movie Melancholia?
I've had numerous similar experiences with my significant other, including with this show. Hell, that sort of thing has been going on, whether with friends, family or significant others, for my entire life.A side note: I insisted my wife try watching it with me, and after the first episode she said she was bored and didn't want to see any more. I am now seriously rethinking my life choices.
The Rules
Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)
Yeah, I've seen it. I thought the visuals were at least interesting and IIRC there was some solid acting. But the whole story seemed a bit too disjointed and artsy for me. I also vaguely recall being a bit at odds with characterizing the nihilism and depression of the main character as 'melancholy', if we were to assume that was in fact their intention.
Oh, sure, tastes differ. But how could I have chosen to live the rest of my life with someone who found that boring? I wonder what other grave errors I have made.I've had numerous similar experiences with my significant other, including with this show. Hell, that sort of thing has been going on, whether with friends, family or significant others, for my entire life.
"When I meet God, I am going to ask him two questions: Why relativity? And why turbulence? I really believe he will have an answer for the first." - Werner Heisenberg (maybe)
Wasn't disjointed the whole thing Melancholia was about? I remember not having a any sort of a grasp on that movie untill things started to come apart again.Yeah, I've seen it. I thought the visuals were at least interesting and IIRC there was some solid acting. But the whole story seemed a bit too disjointed and artsy for me. I also vaguely recall being a bit at odds with characterizing the nihilism and depression of the main character as 'melancholy', if we were to assume that was in fact their intention.
Oh, sure, tastes differ. But how could I have chosen to live the rest of my life with someone who found that boring? I wonder what other grave errors I have made.
Congratulations America
I found the tone of the film itself to be exceptionally glum. I agree, the behavior of the characters wasn't depression -- more like despair, or like you say, nihilism... On a side note, when I watched this I thought of the book When Worlds Collide. This film was essentially the view of those left behind.
You'll find out. Eventually.I wonder what other grave errors I have made.
The Rules
Copper- behave toward others to elicit treatment you would like (the manipulative rule)
Gold- treat others how you would like them to treat you (the self regard rule)
Platinum - treat others the way they would like to be treated (the PC rule)
My girls and I watched the Avatar TV series for the first time. It was really good, even with all it's hype over the years, though I do feel the last few episodes were rushed and a few characters acted out of character to advance the plot. It left enough unanswered though that they picked up the graphic novels to fill in some holes while we watch Korra.
"In a field where an overlooked bug could cost millions, you want people who will speak their minds, even if they’re sometimes obnoxious about it."
That and Phineas and Ferb were the only new (at the time) cartoons the kids watched that I actually enjoyed.
We're stuck in a bloody snowglobe.
We've been watching it and have enjoyed it a lot so far. Even the little one is transfixed by many of the scenes, and she never stands still for anything
Anyway, looking forward to seeing the rest of the season. You really do need to be relaxed and unhurried to be able to enjoy it. If you have a ton of to-dos and other concerns on your mind, it's probably gonna be difficult to immerse yourself fully.
"One day, we shall die. All the other days, we shall live."
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