Watch, Watched, Watching: The Workprint Prototype Version

[Isis]

Just went to see The Girl With All The Gifts. At first I thought they were being too heavy handed but I guess they needed to distill the story. So going with the stripped back, thematic plot it worked well I guess. I felt there was some real humanity there. Kind of rare in a zombie film. Overall, I liked it and think the adaptation was well done. It had emotion without being OTT. And what we had was convincing. Go see it. And read the book.

[Zorral]

5 hours ago, Astromech said:

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I thought the ending was quite good, but actually love the cliffhangers in Longmire. It also means there is most likely a season 6  I'm wondering who the father of Vic's child actually is.

 

Spoiler

To me that felt way too shades of the latest Bridget Jones Baby movie -- which two different men vye to be the father of the baby and nobody is supposed to know which one is the genetic father.  But I loathe stuff like Bridget Jones, so what do I know.

There's got to be another Longmire season!  We can't leave Henry in that situation forever!

 

[Zorral]

7 hours ago, Astromech said:

I'm wondering if I should watch Jessica Jones before Luke Cage or not.

You don't have to at all.  Luke Cage is set after Jessica Jones's first season, but it has a lots of flashbacks.

Watching JJ would be good though if only to contrast the female gaze with the male gaze in the centering of JJ with female protagonist and LC with male protagonist.

But me bad feminist here: I'm really interested in LC with all that's been going on that is centering an African American man with bullet proof skin . . . which can even be metaphorical for how African Americans have managed to survive at all in all these generations.
 

[Martell Spy]

I'd watch Jessica Jones first if you have time. Luke Cage is in several eps, so it's kinda like a prequel for this series. I'd watch Darvedevil when you get a chance, because it's a very good show. It's connections to this show are more subtle, however. Daredevil hasn't met Luke and Jessica, but they have met each other.

Yeah, I'm hoping they bring up BLM issues in this show. It's a great vehicle for it, with a black man with bullet proof skin.

Edited to add hasn't met before Luke and Jessica. Small typo.

 

[Astromech]

I'm current on Daredevil and love it. I wasn't sure how large of a role Luke played in Jessica Jones' first season. I'll just watch the two concurrently. I'm kind of enjoying the slight noir feel of Jessica Jones after the first episode.

[James Arryn]

I stalled midway through JJ...just wasn't grabbing me. But now I feel I can't watch LC until I finish it, so I'm contemplating forcing myself. 

[briantw]

1 hour ago, Astromech said:

I'm current on Daredevil and love it. I wasn't sure how large of a role Luke played in Jessica Jones' first season. I'll just watch the two concurrently. I'm kind of enjoying the slight noir feel of Jessica Jones after the first episode.

He's in about half the episodes and plays a relatively significant role in the main plot.

[Nictarion]

Finally saw Sicario. Thought it was really good. Benicio Del Toro needs to be in more stuff. He was fantastic. I've liked both Villeneuve movies I've seen now (Prisoners & Sicario). Thought the bridge scene was tense af. I completely disagree with some of the criticism I've seen that it kind of fizzled out at the end. I'm going to have to check out Incendies next, and maybe Arrival when it comes out. I definitely feel good about the Blade Runner sequel in his hands.

On another note, as good looking as a lot of Sicario was (particularly the Juarez parts), I'm completely fine with Lubezki winning best cinematography for The Revenant. They got that one right, imo.

[Zorral]

On 9/30/2016 at 0:05 AM, briantw said:

He's in about half the episodes and plays a relatively significant role in the main plot.

Having unexpectedly binge-watched the first 4 episodes of Luke Cage I can definitively say there's no need at all to have seen Jessica Jones first.  Or to know anything about the Marvel comix universe in which evidently Luke Cage interacts either -- which I didn't know even was in place before watching either JJ or LC. Don 't care about comix at all, whether on the page or on the screen.  That I quite liked JJ (except for Tennant -- loathed him, and do in SH too) and am really crushing - rushing on Luke Cage just says what a great job the Netflix writing team did with this series, making sure there was no need to know anything outside of what we are getting in the frame of the series.  And what is included in that frame is utterly splendid, filled with so much African American history, musical, cultural and political.  Do have some nits, including that Harlem isn't like that at all! not now, and not for decades already, with everybody from Bill Clinton to total invasion of white people looking for affordable luxury housing and hipsterness simultaneously, should tell anyone that.  So I don't know why They went there at all.

[Mexal]

22 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Having unexpectedly binge-watched the first 4 episodes of Luke Cage I can definitively say there's no need at all to have seen Jessica Jones first.  Or to know anything about the Marvel comix universe in which evidently Luke Cage interacts either -- which I didn't know even was in place before watching either JJ or LC. Don 't care about comix at all, whether on the page or on the screen.  That I quite liked JJ (except for Tennant -- loathed him, and do in SH too) and am really crushing - rushing on Luke Cage just says what a great job the Netflix writing team did with this series, making sure there was no need to know anything outside of what we are getting in the frame of the series.  And what is included in that frame is utterly splendid, filled with so much African American history, musical, cultural and political.  Do have some nits, including that Harlem isn't like that at all! not now, and not for decades already, with everybody from Bill Clinton to total invasion of white people looking for affordable luxury housing and hipsterness simultaneously, should tell anyone that.  So I don't know why They went there at all.

It's the comics version of Harlem. Just like in Daredevil/JJ, Hell's Kitchen is the size of a large city, looks like Brooklyn and is the worst place in the city to be when in reality, it's gentrified, safe and like 10 blocks. I lived there for 4 years recently and just had to accept the locale for what it was.

[polishgenius]

18 minutes ago, Zorral said:

Do have some nits, including that Harlem isn't like that at all! not now, and not for decades already, with everybody from Bill Clinton to total invasion of white people looking for affordable luxury housing and hipsterness simultaneously, should tell anyone that.  So I don't know why They went there at all.

 

Realistically, they had two choices: make Harlem more like it was back when the character was being created and shaped, or move him from Harlem (and possibly out of New York entirely). Given how strongly the character is associated with the area, the latter was never likely to happen.

[Martell Spy]

The huge alien invasion happened in NY as well. So you would expect changes there. I'm not even sure Obama is the President in the MCU. They've shown Obama on Mr. Robot as the President, and that series has been shown to be an alternate reality. The MCU seems to vary much more from our reality than Mr. Robot's reality. This shouldn't be surprising though. They already had aliens, and they are about to have a wizard.

[Zorral]

56 minutes ago, polishgenius said:

 

Realistically, they had two choices: make Harlem more like it was back when the character was being created and shaped, or move him from Harlem (and possibly out of New York entirely). Given how strongly the character is associated with the area, the latter was never likely to happen.

Creates problems, to a degree, at least, for the million or so? NYers watching the series, however.

[Zorral]

1 minute ago, Martell Spy said:

The huge alien invasion happened in NY as well. So you would expect changes there. I'm not even sure Obama is the President in the MCU. They've shown Obama on Mr. Robot as the President, and that series has been shown to be an alternate reality. The MCU seems to vary much more from our reality than Mr. Robot's reality. This shouldn't be surprising though. They already had aliens, and they are about to have a wizard.

Obama and everything as it is in our reality have been mentioned in the context of the show, illustrating how much black pride there should be in African American history.

[Martell Spy]

Quote

Obama and everything as it is in our reality have been mentioned in the context of the show, illustrating how much black pride there should be in African American history.

 

Oh, I missed it if Obama was mentioned or depicted, sorry. Still though there is no argument that aliens invaded NY there. In the case of Hell's Kitchen it was actually damaged during the attack, as mentioned in Daredevil.

[Channel4s-JonSnow]

1 hour ago, Zorral said:

Having unexpectedly binge-watched the first 4 episodes of Luke Cage I can definitively say there's no need at all to have seen Jessica Jones first.  Or to know anything about the Marvel comix universe in which evidently Luke Cage interacts either -- which I didn't know even was in place before watching either JJ or LC. Don 't care about comix at all, whether on the page or on the screen.  That I quite liked JJ (except for Tennant -- loathed him, and do in SH too) and am really crushing - rushing on Luke Cage just says what a great job the Netflix writing team did with this series, making sure there was no need to know anything outside of what we are getting in the frame of the series.  And what is included in that frame is utterly splendid, filled with so much African American history, musical, cultural and political.  Do have some nits, including that Harlem isn't like that at all! not now, and not for decades already, with everybody from Bill Clinton to total invasion of white people looking for affordable luxury housing and hipsterness simultaneously, should tell anyone that.  So I don't know why They went there at all.

Funny because I thought Tennant was by far the best thing about the show, which I found pretty mediocre. But yeah don't think you need to have seen JJ at all to watch this. This is so far a more enjoyable show for me.

[briantw]

2 hours ago, Zorral said:

Having unexpectedly binge-watched the first 4 episodes of Luke Cage I can definitively say there's no need at all to have seen Jessica Jones first.  Or to know anything about the Marvel comix universe in which evidently Luke Cage interacts either -- which I didn't know even was in place before watching either JJ or LC. Don 't care about comix at all, whether on the page or on the screen.  That I quite liked JJ (except for Tennant -- loathed him, and do in SH too) and am really crushing - rushing on Luke Cage just says what a great job the Netflix writing team did with this series, making sure there was no need to know anything outside of what we are getting in the frame of the series.  And what is included in that frame is utterly splendid, filled with so much African American history, musical, cultural and political.  Do have some nits, including that Harlem isn't like that at all! not now, and not for decades already, with everybody from Bill Clinton to total invasion of white people looking for affordable luxury housing and hipsterness simultaneously, should tell anyone that.  So I don't know why They went there at all.

I mean, you don't have to watch Jessica Jones, but why wouldn't you?  It introduces Luke Cage and is a good show.  Also, anyone who plans on watching the Defenders series next year will want to have seen all of Netflix's other Marvel shows anyway.

[Astromech]

Regarding the current, gentrified Hell's Kitchen and Harlem. Remember that Luke Cage, Daredevil and Iron Fist were all products of late 60s early 70s New York. The comics were depicting the New York of that era. The translation of those comics to 2010s NY can't be literal. (A parody of those comics set in the current, trendy Hell's Kitchen and Harlem would, however, be comical.)

I'm also finding some of the Luke Cage translation quite interesting since the character was introduced in the early 70s riding the popularity of Blaxploitation at the time. Some elements of that genre are visible in Luke Cage.

I'm anxious to see whether Iron Fist has elements of the 70s martial arts fad and genre, the reason for his creation in the Marvel Universe.

[GallowKnight]

28 minutes ago, Astromech said:

I'm anxious to see whether Iron Fist has elements of the 70s martial arts fad and genre, the reason for his creation in the Marvel Universe.

I really hope that the fight choreographers for Iron Fist take some inspiration from old Kung-Fu movies like the one from Shaw Brothers.

[briantw]

1 hour ago, Astromech said:

Regarding the current, gentrified Hell's Kitchen and Harlem. Remember that Luke Cage, Daredevil and Iron Fist were all products of late 60s early 70s New York. The comics were depicting the New York of that era. The translation of those comics to 2010s NY can't be literal. (A parody of those comics set in the current, trendy Hell's Kitchen and Harlem would, however, be comical.)

I'm also finding some of the Luke Cage translation quite interesting since the character was introduced in the early 70s riding the popularity of Blaxploitation at the time. Some elements of that genre are visible in Luke Cage.

I'm anxious to see whether Iron Fist has elements of the 70s martial arts fad and genre, the reason for his creation in the Marvel Universe.

That's probably my favorite thing about Luke Cage so far.  It feels as different from Jessica Jones as Jessica Jones did from Daredevil.  Whereas all the Marvel movies kind of feel the same (outside of the two Thor movies since he's been off on other worlds doing his own thing), the Netflix shows all feel decidedly different in tone and content.