Watch, Watched, Watching: No Dragons Allowed

[Darryk]

3 hours ago, RhaenysBee said:

I’m watching Lost. It’s brilliant. I know it goes downhill after a couple seasons, but so far it’s a breath of fresh air. The story and the characters are complex and interesting, there’s tension, mystery, inner and interpersonal conflict, stakes, trial and error, struggle, reward, development. The writing is ballsy. From a 2022 perspective, I suppose in 2003 you would just call it simply good. I can’t say any of the characters stand out to me, I find almost all of them likable and relatable while still deeply flawed. Dominic Monaghan will always have a special place in my heart whatever character he plays. 

Is this the first time you've seen it?

I don't think it went downhill after a couple of seasons. Me and my friends were hooked right till the end, but the ending wasn't well received.

[RhaenysBee]

10 minutes ago, Darryk said:

Is this the first time you've seen it?

I don't think it went downhill after a couple of seasons. Me and my friends were hooked right till the end, but the ending wasn't well received.

Yes, I didn’t watch it back in the day, even though it was a huge deal. I remember a lot of text books with Ian Somerhalder and heart doodles on the margins at school.  

oh we will see I suppose. I know a lot of people thought the later seasons were over the top and a bit contrived. A friend said she enjoyed the first 3 seasons then it was meh with a bad ending. 

[Heartofice]

There is an argument that Lost only ever had one good season, the first, at which point it totally lost what the hell it was doing. I think it had ups and downs, was never as good as it promised to be, was the clearest example of a thin story stretched out longer than it needed to be and it all ended pretty badly. Sorry to spoil anything there but it’s been out for years. 
 

I do remember a number of points where it sucked me back in, but a far greater number where it was an actual chore to get through it

[williamjm]

1 hour ago, RhaenysBee said:

oh we will see I suppose. I know a lot of people thought the later seasons were over the top and a bit contrived. A friend said she enjoyed the first 3 seasons then it was meh with a bad ending. 

I think season 4's The Constant is often thought of as being the show's best episode, and there are plenty of other good bits in the later seasons although it is often very hit-and-miss, particularly when it gets to the final season.

[RhaenysBee]

4 minutes ago, Heartofice said:

There is an argument that Lost only ever had one good season, the first, at which point it totally lost what the hell it was doing. I think it had ups and downs, was never as good as it promised to be, was the clearest example of a thin story stretched out longer than it needed to be and it all ended pretty badly. Sorry to spoil anything there but it’s been out for years. 
 

I do remember a number of points where it sucked me back in, but a far greater number where it was an actual chore to get through it

None of this is spoiler. And yes, discussing something that’s been out for months/years/decades/centuries is not a spoiler.  

well so far so good, if it loses me I’ll probably just drop it and find another pre 2010 show to watch back. 

or start Angel at last. 

[Veltigar]

I watched the Indian phenomenon RRR yesterday. It is a terrible film, so it warms the heart to know that we have evolved enough as a society to celebrate crap regardless of whether the ollywood that made it has an H, B or (in this case) a T in front of it. 

Even by the low standards set by Hollywood, this film blatantly ignores physics, biology and statistics. What is even worse however, is that it fails to do much interesting with it. I laughed heartily during the first hour or so. None of what I was shown made any sense, but they did some gleefully stupid things with it that I was on board. Unfortunately, the film kept going for about two very boring hours after this peak.

I'd recommend everyone to just watch the highlights on YouTube. There are a few scenes with animals in it that you have to see to believe, a pretty good fight scene between one of the leads and a crowd of about a thousand people, a friend montage that is good fun and finally there is a dance battle sequence which for me was the highlight of the film (I'd love to see the making-off featurette for that scene).

All the rest of the film was garbage however and since the film keeps going almost until the end of time, you can imagine that it is not the greatest viewing experience. I also felt like I was watching a propaganda film. I am not well-versed enough in the time period to make a definitive judgement here, but a lot of what we were shown felt off. 

There were some positives as well of course, though most come with qualifications. For example at first I found the VFX work absolutely terrible, but for a film that only cost 72 million USD to make it actually looks pretty good. Another example is the cartoonish portrayal of the British. On the one hand it was refreshing to see how gleefully evil the British are portrayed to be (closer to the truth than most of us like to admit), but on the other hand they were all so outrageously stupid and inadequate that I would almost feel insulted as an Indian watching it, in that "if these people really were so stupid, how did they dominate us for so long?" kind of way.

The only unrestrained positive I would say were the lead actors. They act their ass of, are believable as action heroes and they can both sing and dance. Ram Charan in particular is really great and I can only describe him as a true blueblood movie star. On the British side, I don't really see much to praise. Ray Stevenson's moustache twirling was appreciated, but he felt kind of wasted. Elsa from the Indiana Jones had way too much plastic surgery and all the others were fine. Not good, not bad but just serviceable.

Apart from RRR, I also watched the second episode of 1883. The voice over was limited, so that was nice. I also liked some of the unexpected turns in the story. I do however reiterate my concern over the overly conservative approach to history we are seeing here. I really question the wisdom of having the main character be another former confederate soldier. Why are all these gunslingers former confederates?

This episode also had the most random cameo by Tom Hanks that I can think off. I wonder how they convinced him to get involved here.

 

[Mindwalker]

Speaking of Lost (of which I only watched a handful of episodes), I sure hope that the creators of Severance have a plan (plus  self-restraint) and will stick the landing and won't string us along forever. I'm binging the hell out of this right now.

[Quijote Light]

1 hour ago, Veltigar said:

 

This episode also had the most random cameo by Tom Hanks that I can think off. I wonder how they convinced him to get involved here.

 

A coworker told me that Hanks and McGraw became close friends through their wives. 

[DMC]

LOST's biggest troubles were at the beginning of Season 3 - "Stranger in a Strange Land" being a clear marker of its nadir - with fans basically universally revolting against new character Nikki and Paulo.  Still, I think they improved by season's end with the last three episodes one of the best arcs of the series.  The show definitely got its groove back by Season 4 in terms of critical response.  I wonder how differently the show would be viewed if they just axed the flash-sideways aspect of the final season (which is how I re-watch it). 

[Deadlines? What Deadlines?]

Speaking of Tom Hanks. I saw News of the World recently. I thought it was pretty good. Hanks should have done a western sooner. 

[Quijote Light]

1 hour ago, Deadlines? What Deadlines? said:

Speaking of Tom Hanks. I saw News of the World recently. I thought it was pretty good. Hanks should have done a western sooner. 

I thought so too. I’m not sure how well a younger Hanks would have done in a Western, although his age probably has more to do with fitting this part in particular. 

[RumHam]

8 hours ago, Heartofice said:

There is an argument that Lost only ever had one good season, the first, at which point it totally lost what the hell it was doing. I think it had ups and downs, was never as good as it promised to be, was the clearest example of a thin story stretched out longer than it needed to be and it all ended pretty badly. Sorry to spoil anything there but it’s been out for years. 
 

I do remember a number of points where it sucked me back in, but a far greater number where it was an actual chore to get through it

I think season two is stronger than the first. The first has all those early big reveals, but also I dunno it's a little too Gilligan's island for me at points. I prefer the mystery/tension/what in the actual fuck aspect that gets more focus in season two. 

I looked at wikipedia to refresh my memory before making this statement. It's crazy that these were 24 episode seasons. Really impressive that they were so solid. 

[RumHam]

21 hours ago, Ramsay B. said:

Nearing the end of my The Leftovers rewatch. 

I love this show, it's top tier in my opinion. But I've said "I'm going to re-watch The Leftovers" probably an order of magnitude more than I've actually re-watched The Leftovers. One of the first five episodes is perpetually in my HBO Max continue watching list.

I'm not even one of those "season one sucks" people. ("Start at season two" is insane advice to give when recommending a drama. Especially one that only went three seasons.) Season one builds to some really powerful stuff, but it is not fun to watch early on. 

[DMC]

1 hour ago, RumHam said:

It's crazy that these were 24 episode seasons. Really impressive that they were so solid. 

Aye.  It's certainly no coincidence that when they kind of held up and did a reset during season 3, the subsequent seasons were all considerably shorter (five also had to deal with the writer's strike, but still).

[Ramsay B.]

1 hour ago, RumHam said:

I'm not even one of those "season one sucks" people. ("Start at season two" is insane advice to give when recommending a drama. Especially one that only went three seasons.) Season one builds to some really powerful stuff, but it is not fun to watch early on. 

That was a thing? That really is insanity. If I had to rank them I’d probably go 2-1-3, with the first 2 seasons being very close. I feel like the only time it lost steam for me was the first few episodes of s3, but it obviously ends very strongly. 

[RumHam]

14 minutes ago, Ramsay B. said:

That was a thing?

Sadly

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/game-of-thrones-the-wire-the-leftovers-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-a7845896.html

[TheLastWolf]

11 hours ago, Veltigar said:

I watched the Indian phenomenon RRR yesterday. It is a terrible film

Finally someone with good taste!

11 hours ago, Veltigar said:

so it warms the heart to know that we have evolved enough as a society to celebrate crap regardless of whether the ollywood that made it has an H, B or (in this case) a T in front of it. 

(bgm)

11 hours ago, Veltigar said:

There were some positives as well of course, though most come with qualifications. For example at first I found the VFX work absolutely terrible, but for a film that only cost 72 million USD to make it actually looks pretty good.

Ahem, its the most expensive film till date from India, the upcoming PS-1 is slightly behind.

11 hours ago, Veltigar said:

Another example is the cartoonish portrayal of the British. On the one hand it was refreshing to see how gleefully evil the British are portrayed to be (closer to the truth than most of us like to admit),

Caricaturish but in reality they weren't like Dracula, just Amon Goeth.

11 hours ago, Veltigar said:

but on the other hand they were all so outrageously stupid and inadequate that I would almost feel insulted as an Indian watching it, in that "if these people really were so stupid, how did they dominate us for so long?" kind of way.

Most Indians from the freedom era are long dead (My grandfather was in his teens then, now he's still kicking) and most audiences of films like these simply don't care if they're shown a mindless spectacle. But yeah, I felt some of what you describe.

[Veltigar]

11 hours ago, Quijote Light said:

A coworker told me that Hanks and McGraw became close friends through their wives. 

Man, I looked up McGraw and he played the dad of Gareth Hedlund character back in 2004's Friday Night Lights (the role that would make Taylor Kitsch famous in the tv series) and he looks older there at 37 than he does in this series at 55. Weird how ageless he is.

1 hour ago, TheLastWolf said:

Finally someone with good taste!

Finally some recognition! 

1 hour ago, TheLastWolf said:

(bgm)

This I don't understand? 

1 hour ago, TheLastWolf said:

Ahem, its the most expensive film till date from India, the upcoming PS-1 is slightly behind.

I know, but 72 million USD is still peanuts when it comes to blockbusters overall. You can make like two episodes of the Ring of Power with that 

So for their budget the VFX wasn't terrible.

1 hour ago, TheLastWolf said:

Most Indians from the freedom era are long dead (My grandfather was in his teens then, now he's still kicking) and most audiences of films like these simply don't care if they're shown a mindless spectacle. But yeah, I felt some of what you describe.

My sympathies. 

[TheLastWolf]

42 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

2 hours ago, TheLastWolf said:

(bgm)

This I don't understand? 

Background music

42 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

2 hours ago, TheLastWolf said:

Finally someone with good taste!

Finally some recognition! 

43 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

I know, but 72 million USD is still peanuts when it comes to blockbusters overall. You can make like two episodes of the Ring of Power with that 

So for their budget the VFX wasn't terrible.

Got it.

Well, anyway, Indian cinema is quite good considering limited budgets as compared to the West. Good if you have a guide to navigate through the 99.99% crap churned out (not kidding, the sheer volume is phew, only if those collective resources could make better films on an average...) like me 

45 minutes ago, Veltigar said:

My sympathies. 

Thank you for them

[Heartofice]

4 hours ago, RumHam said:

Sadly

https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/features/game-of-thrones-the-wire-the-leftovers-buffy-the-vampire-slayer-a7845896.html

Season one of the Leftovers is as far as I know a straight adaptation of the book, everything after is sort of made up. The show is a rare example of where the writers were able to take a concept and run with it and also improve on it long after the source material runs out. I can think of one or two examples where others haven't done that.. hmmm

I can't see any scenario where you could skip season one of the Leftovers though. Everything afterwards still relies on the events of that first season, and it goes a long way to establishing who those characters are and what motivates them. It doesn't make any sense. Season 2 is clearly the more creative and out there, really expanding on the idea from the first one, but 1 is very good too.