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[Corvinus85]

I started watching the new Josh Brolin show Outer Range. Haven't watched the latest episode yet. This show is strange, not really sure what it's trying to be.  I thought it started OK, then got good, but then it started losing itself lately and I feel it will massively drop the ball.

[Teng Ai Hui]

I’m halfway through the new season of The Wilds. It went to a dark place. It’s good storytelling but it isn’t easy to watch.

[Heartofice]

So I’m almost finished with Ozark, and clearly haven’t gotten to the finale yet, which will no doubt taint my opinion…

But I’ve really enjoyed it actually. It doesn’t feel like it’s totally jumped through shark, and I’ve been ok with most of the twists and turns. I also just think Jason Bateman has really put in some great performances. It’s quite powerful to see him getting emotional when you are so used to his almost robotic nature. His chat with his daughter and opening up to her really got to me.

[RhaenysBee]

Why doesn’t this show have at least 15 minutes of consistency and coherence? Just because you put together cOoL scenes in a linear order, they won’t yield a story. What the hell is the story? What the hell is the plot? 5 episodes in and I couldn’t construct one sensible sentence about what the hell is happening in this show. Who writes these things? (Killing Eve season 4) Oh goodness…

Dear me, you think it can’t get more nonsensical and flat but it always does. With every damn scene. 

Where do I apply to get the 5.5 hours of my life back? Also, this show used to be so uniquely great. How can you screw up something so good so badly? 

[Zorral]

4 hours ago, RhaenysBee said:

How can you screw up something so good so badly? 

See the article I linked to in the Streaming thread.  There aren't enough experienced people to do what is necessary, due first to the voracious demand of new content for streaming, and then the effect covid had on that condition.

[Heartofice]

18 hours ago, RhaenysBee said:

Why doesn’t this show have at least 15 minutes of consistency and coherence? Just because you put together cOoL scenes in a linear order, they won’t yield a story. What the hell is the story? What the hell is the plot? 5 episodes in and I couldn’t construct one sensible sentence about what the hell is happening in this show. Who writes these things? (Killing Eve season 4) Oh goodness…

Dear me, you think it can’t get more nonsensical and flat but it always does. With every damn scene. 

Where do I apply to get the 5.5 hours of my life back? Also, this show used to be so uniquely great. How can you screw up something so good so badly? 

Yeah I think what became apparent from season 2 is that the core of Killing Eve is a very unremarkable run of the mill story that was turned into something special by Waller-Bridge’s unique vision. Remove her and you are left with all the bad stuff in the first season that we didn’t notice, but none of the fun.

Ive never read the books but I heard they are nothing special either.

[Isis]

On 5/7/2022 at 9:51 AM, Teng Ai Hui said:

I’m halfway through the new season of The Wilds. It went to a dark place. It’s good storytelling but it isn’t easy to watch.

Oh, there's a new series? I swear I checked very recently and there was still just the one series. 

We need to finish up Raised by Wolves first. 

[Spockydog]

On 5/6/2022 at 2:51 PM, Corvinus85 said:

I started watching the new Josh Brolin show Outer Range. Haven't watched the latest episode yet. This show is strange, not really sure what it's trying to be.  I thought it started OK, then got good, but then it started losing itself lately and I feel it will massively drop the ball.

Yeah, this is one that fails to fulfil the early promise and just becomes really fucking boring.

 

[RhaenysBee]

4 hours ago, Heartofice said:

Yeah I think what became apparent from season 2 is that the core of Killing Eve is a very unremarkable run of the mill story that was turned into something special by Waller-Bridge’s unique vision. Remove her and you are left with all the bad stuff in the first season that we didn’t notice, but none of the fun.

Ive never read the books but I heard they are nothing special either.

What made people, well me at least, enjoy the first two seasons so much was the uniqueness and the extra mile. That characters were way more than their archetype, the plot was dynamic and action packed and subversive but also (more or less) sensible, the humor wasn’t just quirky, but well placed and it added to the story. And then all of that went out of the window and everything became one flat, boring and shallow dimension. 

Spoiler

The story started out as a crime dramedy about power struggle and the psychology of the characters involved with an unconventional romantic-ish side plot. It ended as a generic star crossed lovers story between the hard shell soft core bad girl and the good girl doing bad things for the right reasons. Villanelle and Eve both used to be so much more than that. Villanelle used to be a sexual omnivore, glamorous megalomaniac with a charisma out of the roof with a foggy past that shaped her into what she is, and ended up as the ordinary girl who just wants to love and be loved by her one and only. Eve used to be an quirky self-righteous and ambitious protagonist who is constantly in over her head and gets lost in an obsession at insane cost. In season 4, she’s a Mary Sue. Every single character and storyline started out as more complex, more interesting, more relatable and generally superior than what they became in the final season. Basically every arch, be it character or story, was backwards, everything and everyone regressed, or their progression as severed with a pizza cutter and left for forgotten in the woods. 

 

[Heartofice]

41 minutes ago, RhaenysBee said:

What made people, well me at least, enjoy the first two seasons so much was the uniqueness and the extra mile. That characters were way more than their archetype, the plot was dynamic and action packed and subversive but also (more or less) sensible, the humor wasn’t just quirky, but well placed and it added to the story. And then all of that went out of the window and everything became one flat, boring and shallow dimension. 

  Reveal hidden contents

The story started out as a crime dramedy about power struggle and the psychology of the characters involved with an unconventional romantic-ish side plot. It ended as a generic star crossed lovers story between the hard shell soft core bad girl and the good girl doing bad things for the right reasons. Villanelle and Eve both used to be so much more than that. Villanelle used to be a sexual omnivore, glamorous megalomaniac with a charisma out of the roof with a foggy past that shaped her into what she is, and ended up as the ordinary girl who just wants to love and be loved by her one and only. Eve used to be an quirky self-righteous and ambitious protagonist who is constantly in over her head and gets lost in an obsession at insane cost. In season 4, she’s a Mary Sue. Every single character and storyline started out as more complex, more interesting, more relatable and generally superior than what they became in the final season. Basically every arch, be it character or story, was backwards, everything and everyone regressed, or their progression as severed with a pizza cutter and left for forgotten in the woods. 

 

I’d really only include the first season as I felt the drop in quality was pretty noticeable. I even remember plenty of complaints about the plot in the first season, and I wouldn’t disagree that there is nothing especially interesting about the story or the plot, and it’s often a bit silly and illogical.

But that first season had a unique feel. I remember going in quite cautiously and realising after 10 minutes that it was something special because the use of language, it’s visual flair and it’s quirky universe made it more than a run of the mill spy thriller.

By season 3 though, all of that had disappeared. It was extremely run of the mill. The ‘love story’ is borderline insulting to the viewer, characters feel like parodies rather than actual people, it started to become more and more ludicrous whilst also managing to be utterly boring.

For me it’s a really interesting example of how quality art can be the product of one persons vision, and if you remove that, thinking you can keep it going, it loses everything interesting about it.

Reminds me a little bit of GoT in some ways. You can’t replicate something good just because you have an outline or some plot points.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Spider-Man: No way Home is a delightful movie and I don't think you need to see any prior films to enjoy the story. I really liked Garfield and Dafoe was peak crazy Dafoe. Definitely worth seeing.

[Veltigar]

I saw The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent in theatre earlier this week. Really a delightful movie. I don't think anyone but Cage could pull off playing a fictional version of himself. He's great in the film, but so is Pedro Pascal. Together they really do light up the screen.

I also enjoyed the reminders to all the great (and not so great) Cage films of years past. It's crazy how long he's been on top. It definitely helps coming from a well-connected Hollywood family, but his longevity is also a testament to his skill and appetite for work.

The only thing that didn't always work for me was the humor. I laughed quite a bit, but some of the humor stuff was a bit cringey due to the shame I felt for what the characters were doing. I have a pretty low tolerance for that, so that pushed it down a notch or two.

Overall though, I love that this film exists. They might not be front and center anymore, but Hollywood is still able to push some original ideas out there.

2 hours ago, Heartofice said:

I’d really only include the first season as I felt the drop in quality was pretty noticeable. I even remember plenty of complaints about the plot in the first season, and I wouldn’t disagree that there is nothing especially interesting about the story or the plot, and it’s often a bit silly and illogical.

It's never nice to see a show flat out fail, but I do feel kind of smug about this one. I watched the first season and thought it was trash back then, so it's not a surprise that it devolved even further.

[Heartofice]

4 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

It's never nice to see a show flat out fail, but I do feel kind of smug about this one. I watched the first season and thought it was trash back then, so it's not a surprise that it devolved even further.

Nah it was never trash, though I seem to remember you saying you didn’t like it. That first season wasn’t perfect but there’s a good reason why the show was so successful.. because it was good! It’s just that the reasons it was good quickly disappeared 

[RhaenysBee]

2 hours ago, Heartofice said:

I’d really only include the first season as I felt the drop in quality was pretty noticeable. I even remember plenty of complaints about the plot in the first season, and I wouldn’t disagree that there is nothing especially interesting about the story or the plot, and it’s often a bit silly and illogical.

But that first season had a unique feel. I remember going in quite cautiously and realising after 10 minutes that it was something special because the use of language, it’s visual flair and it’s quirky universe made it more than a run of the mill spy thriller.

By season 3 though, all of that had disappeared. It was extremely run of the mill. The ‘love story’ is borderline insulting to the viewer, characters feel like parodies rather than actual people, it started to become more and more ludicrous whilst also managing to be utterly boring.

For me it’s a really interesting example of how quality art can be the product of one persons vision, and if you remove that, thinking you can keep it going, it loses everything interesting about it.

Reminds me a little bit of GoT in some ways. You can’t replicate something good just because you have an outline or some plot points.

   

it’s okay if the plot jumps around some, as long as there’s substance to make up for that. That’s why it’s worked in the beginning. And as soon as that substance and gumption and unique flare were gone, it crumbled like a house of cards. What kept surprising me is how impossibly boring it got. It’s understandable once you think about it but for the first couple episodes of both season 3 and 4, I was surprised how impossibly bored I was. season 4 was so unbearably bad that Jodie Comer, Sandra Oh AND Fiona Shaw combined couldn’t save it. And it showed so much that Jodie could no longer take it seriously, and barely a quarter of her heart went into this mockery of Villanelle. Much like poor GoT cast. And yes, eerily similar fates…  

[Annara Snow]

On 5/6/2022 at 9:03 AM, BigFatCoward said:

Started Barry based on someone's recommendation in this thread. It's fucking excellent. Though I can't tell if the female lead is meant to be annoying or not. 

She is supposed to be flawed and messed up as most of the characters are in that show*. You get more of her character development and backstory later, and she's equal parts sympathetic - as in, you feel sorry for her - and annoying. 

 

*some more than the others obviously, with the whole murder thingy 

 

[RhaenysBee]

I’m beginning to think that the problem is with me. The Staircase is boring, impossible to follow and blatantly unrealistic. It’s just… bewildering. 

[Veltigar]

I went to the theatre today to watch The Lost City, the Romancing the Stone homage with Sandra Bullock and Channing Tatum. No surprises in this one, but to paraphrase one reviewer, that doesn't matter when the formula used is one that works. I also really enjoyed the fact that it wasn't based on some pre-existing piece of IP.

I was therefore very glad to read that it exceeded expectations at the box office. Between this, The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and The Northman April saw the wide release of a lot of original films. It's probably too soon to speak of a trend given that Dr. Strange is probably smashing the box office and we have another Jurassic World movie and a Top Gun sequel still slated for release but when the MCU suffers it inevitable fall from grace, I hope we'll see more bold and independent original stories again.

But to return back to The Lost City, I liked it a lot. The performances were great (especially loved Channing Tatum and Brad Pitt), the humor mostly worked and it had a lot of heart. I feel like they could have done more with the villain and at times it was a bit too self-referential (It's very much part of the zeitgeist, that kind of self-aware storytelling. No one plays it straight anymore) at times, but those are rather minor criticisms in an otherwise enjoyable romp at the movies.

[Nictarion]

On 5/6/2022 at 9:51 AM, Corvinus85 said:

I started watching the new Josh Brolin show Outer Range. Haven't watched the latest episode yet. This show is strange, not really sure what it's trying to be.  I thought it started OK, then got good, but then it started losing itself lately and I feel it will massively drop the ball.

I just finished this, and I actually really dug it. Kind of like Yellowstone with a sci-fi/time travel twist. 

I am a bit surprised at myself for not seeing…

Spoiler

Autumn = Amy - coming though. It was pretty obvious in hindsight. 

I’ll definitely watch another season if they do one. 

[Spockydog]

Not a single BAFTA for It's a Sin?

GTFOH.

[Ramsay B.]

2 hours ago, Nictarion said:

I just finished this, and I actually really dug it. Kind of like Yellowstone with a sci-fi/time travel twist. 

I am a bit surprised at myself for not seeing…

  Reveal hidden contents

Autumn = Amy - coming though. It was pretty obvious in hindsight. 

I’ll definitely watch another season if they do one. 

I’m 4 episodes into it and liking everything thus far. I didn’t click on your spoiler but I have some theories on a few things.