Discuss and Rate the Last Thing You Watched (non-movies)

[Hawki]

Doctor Who: Invasion of the Dinosuars (4/5)

That I'm giving this 4/5 is a conditional score, as in, factoring in for the advances made since these serial aired. Still, I enjoyed it overall.

So, the Doctor and Sarah-Jane arrive in London, only to find it bereft of people, and overrun by prehistoric monsters that totally aren't stop-motion or puppets (actually, to be fair, the effects are integrated rather well, at least for the time). Cue working with UNIT to find out what's behind these beasties, including, but not limited to, a fake spaceship, eco-terrorists, and making friends along the way.

Like I said, conditional, but I think the serial is quite decent. Despite the absurd title, the actual plot does unfold nicely, with the mystery and cause slowly being revealed. Also helps that among the OldWho Doctors, Three ranks fairly highly for me, so that helps. Overall, fun, but you'd have to be a pre-existing DW fan to get the most out of it.

 

[Thaluikhain]

overrun by prehistoric monsters that totally aren't stop-motion or puppets (actually, to be fair, the effects are integrated rather well, at least for the time).

My problem with that is that the dinosaurs are a big part of the story (they're in the name). Dodgy bit part dinosaurs are fine, Dr Who has done them before, but you can't have your front and centre monsters look like that.

 

[Hawki]

My problem with that is that the dinosaurs are a big part of the story (they're in the name). Dodgy bit part dinosaurs are fine, Dr Who has done them before, but you can't have your front and centre monsters look like that.

Question though, are the dinosaurs really front and centre?

What's weird about the episode is that it's called "Invasion of the Dinosaurs," but the dinosaurs don't play that big of a role. And after all, they aren't really invading, they're just being pulled to the present as part of a plot from eco-terrorists.

Then again, I guess "Plot of the Greenies" doesn't have the same ring to it.

 

[Casual Shinji]

I watched episodes 4, 5, and 6 of Arcane: League of Legends. And while the first three episodes (they're weekly released in chunks of 3, I think) were really good, the following three episodes were of a significant lesser quality. The visuals are still great, and overall the episodes are still fine, but things have snuck in that just make me sigh.

Probably the biggest point of contention for me is what they did to Powder who is now called Jinx. I'm not familiar with the League of Legends videogame, but I'm assuming Jinx design in ep. 4/5/6 is true to her original design in the game. I don't know if Jinx was in the game from the start or introduced later, but seeing as the game was first released in 2009 I'm assuming the former. Her design just screams 2009/2010 edgey videogame coolness, and I mean that as an insult. She is the most desperate Harley Quinn clone, and I find it almost impossible to take her character serious now.

Most of the underground setting is now drenched in this equally shitty neon hot topic style.

The other problem (similarly '09 videogames) is how I can feel these new batch of episodes trying to pander to my base male instincts. Like how the uniforms for the female officers are designed almost maid-like, showing a surprising amount of thigh, emphasizing it with knee-high boots. The skirt even has frills, and the uniform conveniently hugs the wearer in all the right places. I have nothing against sexy designs, but this feels like a weird place to have it and I find it a little telling. I'm assuming this is also a design lifted from the game.

Both Powder/Jinx and Vi also have really bad haircuts now. It was already a little odd that they had natural pink and blue hair, but atleast it looked appropriately scruffy and messy for their living conditions. But apparently Vi could keep a super stylish anime hairdo in a grimey prison for years.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Watching Succession, season 3.

I like the show a lot but I'm more or less resigned by now to the fact that nothing of lasting importance will ever happen before a season finale. A lot of it boils down to keeping stuff up in the air, building up the stakes and keeping tension high. So far every season builds up to one or two keystones and in between there's a lot of fanning about where characters desperately try to stop one thing by doing another; inevitably they fail but the keystone comes and goes and turns out not to be such a big deal after all. I've lost count of how many apparent "points of no return" have been retconned out of necessity of keeping characters around and preserving the dynamics.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Question though, are the dinosaurs really front and centre?

What's weird about the episode is that it's called "Invasion of the Dinosaurs," but the dinosaurs don't play that big of a role. And after all, they aren't really invading, they're just being pulled to the present as part of a plot from eco-terrorists.

Then again, I guess "Plot of the Greenies" doesn't have the same ring to it.

You have a point there. Take dinosaurs out of the title and put more random medieval peasants in to replace dino puppets...and fix the story...get rid of the spaceship stuff...actually, there's a lot there to improve on.

 

[Xprimentyl]

The Shrink Next Door

Will Ferrell plays a quietly troubled, middle-aged man who gives in and employees a psychiatrist (Paul Rudd) at the behest of his younger, doting sister. It soon becomes evident Rudd sees an opportunity to exploit Ferrell as their worlds collide and Ferrell finds himself drawn to Rudd's life-changing "wisdom."

I'm three episodes in, and so far so good. It's based on the true events covered in a 10-episode podcast, yet slightly fictionalized for dramatization. I really would rather listen to the podcast as this feels like it's being drawn out for the sake of episodic content, but you can't help but be engaged as you see Rudd's manipulation take root in Ferrell's mind. Most interesting is seeing Ferrell in a dramatic role. He takes to it like a fish to water, but every time you see his face, you're looking for the gag, and there's rarely one to be found. There are several moments of levity, but none of the over-the-top "Ferrell" comedic mic drops. Will continue to watch, and will report back as I know how much everyone here values my insight.

 

[gorfias]

The Shrink Next Door

Will Ferrell plays a quietly troubled, middle-aged man who gives in and employees a psychiatrist (Paul Rudd) at the behest of his younger, doting sister. It soon becomes evident Rudd sees an opportunity to exploit Ferrell as their worlds collide and Ferrell finds himself drawn to Rudd's life-changing "wisdom."

I'm three episodes in, and so far so good. It's based on the true events covered in a 10-episode podcast, yet slightly fictionalized for dramatization. I really would rather listen to the podcast as this feels like it's being drawn out for the sake of episodic content, but you can't help but be engaged as you see Rudd's manipulation take root in Ferrell's mind. Most interesting is seeing Ferrell in a dramatic role. He takes to it like a fish to water, but every time you see his face, you're looking for the gag, and there's rarely one to be found. There are several moments of levity, but none of the over-the-top "Ferrell" comedic mic drops. Will continue to watch, and will report back as I know how much everyone here values my insight.

You ninja'd me.
I'm 2 episodes in on Apple TV and enjoying it.
Check Ferrell in 2006 Stranger Than Fiction for another very good serious turn.

 

[Xprimentyl]

Acapulco

Miniseries about a multi-millionaire recounting to his 10-year-old nephew his rise from lower-class poverty via a coveted job at a luxury resort in Mexico .

Not going to lie, I went into this because my girlfriend wanted to watch it. She even ceded that we could stop after the first episode because nothing about it looked interesting by my tastes. Y'know what? I actually enjoyed it. Very light-hearted and fun, and doesn't drag you into the dramatic aspect so much as to lose it's identity. I recommend it.

 

[gorfias]

Marvel's Hit-Monkey on Hulu.
I'm am only 1 episode in but really enjoying the bit of hyper violent gonzo very funny animation.
Very unsentimental start to it.
Very violent killer monkey.
What's not to like?

 

[Piscian]

Midnight Mass

Midnight Mass ended up being quite the mindfuck. Despite being a fan of Mike Flanagan's and knowing it was his work going in, it somehow eluded me that it was going to be more than just a spooky horror show. I'm not sure what I was expecting, just a typical made for TV horror movie. Instead it was sort of like the Ultimate Stephen KIng adaptation, but done by a better writer than Stephen King. The "horror" is revealed fairly early in the story and is more like a catalyst for a character examination of this Island of very broken, very normal people. The writing is so good here that the same decisions made by characters in any normal show would be cringy, but here, in context make perfect sense. Every single character in the show, despite it only being like 7 or so episodes is given so many layers. The "Town drunk" in this is a complex, fully realized and deeply empathetic human being. This amazing writing culminates in a series of moments so gut wrenching and heart breaking as to make Mikes other work and even the climax of Squid Games silly in comparison. There's a scene towards the end that I can imagine some people just shutting off the show because its so painful to watch, not due to gore or anything like that, but by the shear stomach churning tragedy of it. The show is amazing, but man be ready to be really really really depressed.

 

[Agema]

Midnight Mass

I finally finished the last two epsiodes earlier this week. It feels like someone's given a creator a lot of room to create a very personal project and the creator has perhaps refused to bend to audience expectations and conventions, with the result of something that is perhaps a little flawed / difficult / unsatisfying from a viewer perspective, but it gains far more from the purity of vision. I... really liked it. One of the best shows of the last few years.

 

[Piscian]

I finally finished the last two epsiodes earlier this week. It feels like someone's given a creator a lot of room to create a very personal project and the creator has perhaps refused to bend to audience expectations and conventions, with the result of something that is perhaps a little flawed / difficult / unsatisfying from a viewer perspective, but it gains far more from the purity of vision. I... really liked it. One of the best shows of the last few years.

I forget where I read it, but this is an actual book Mike Flanagan wrote, hed apparently been working on this for like 10 years and couldn't get it published, when his other shows were super successful netflix gave him the greenlight. Its apparently based on his feelings about a family member who died and that affected him pretty badly so the two monologues on death are from him directly. I didn't think about it too much but RLM pointed out this apparently got a lot of flack from mainstream viewers due to the extended monologues. It may be that I was just in the right state of mind, but I was really sucked in, especially to Riley Flynns.

 

[Dansen]

I watched episodes 4, 5, and 6 of Arcane: League of Legends. And while the first three episodes (they're weekly released in chunks of 3, I think) were really good, the following three episodes were of a significant lesser quality. The visuals are still great, and overall the episodes are still fine, but things have snuck in that just make me sigh.

Probably the biggest point of contention for me is what they did to Powder who is now called Jinx. I'm not familiar with the League of Legends videogame, but I'm assuming Jinx design in ep. 4/5/6 is true to her original design in the game. I don't know if Jinx was in the game from the start or introduced later, but seeing as the game was first released in 2009 I'm assuming the former. Her design just screams 2009/2010 edgey videogame coolness, and I mean that as an insult. She is the most desperate Harley Quinn clone, and I find it almost impossible to take her character serious now.

Most of the underground setting is now drenched in this equally shitty neon hot topic style.

The other problem (similarly '09 videogames) is how I can feel these new batch of episodes trying to pander to my base male instincts. Like how the uniforms for the female officers are designed almost maid-like, showing a surprising amount of thigh, emphasizing it with knee-high boots. The skirt even has frills, and the uniform conveniently hugs the wearer in all the right places. I have nothing against sexy designs, but this feels like a weird place to have it and I find it a little telling. I'm assuming this is also a design lifted from the game.

Both Powder/Jinx and Vi also have really bad haircuts now. It was already a little odd that they had natural pink and blue hair, but at least it looked appropriately scruffy and messy for their living conditions. But apparently Vi could keep a super stylish anime hairdo in a grimey prison for years.

Jinx is just a Harley Quinn/Tank Girl clone unfortunately. I think she was released when Harley was just starting to become more popular. She was what I was most worried about and it could have been a lot worse, she's been dialed back a lot. The lol random crazy girl trope does get a lot of traction for some reason and I don't know why.

The undercity becoming gaudy makes sense to me from a story telling perspective. The whole city has become richer, even the poor crime ridden parts. When poor people suddenly start earning more money than they know what to do with they tend to buy some pretty tacky things. Its also there to visually show what the undercity is becoming under Silco's guidance.

I can kind of see what you are saying about the cop uniforms, its closer to her old design, her new one is pretty similar but she is wearing leggings/pants with combat boots under her skirt. Dunno why they kept the skirt. I could see it as trying to appeal to Asian fans which is LoL's primary demo. As far as I know female officers do wear skirts in many Asian countries. Ultimately I wasn't really distracted by the uniforms it was there for like 2 min of screen time.

Hair is a weird sticking point, its just operating on anime rules.

 

[Casual Shinji]

Hair is a weird sticking point, its just operating on anime rules.

It's just indicative of the overall vibe of episode 4, 5, and 6. That being the rule of cool. The previous three episodes felt a lot more grounded in the depiction of its characters and didn't feel the need to show off how cool and sexy they were. They felt more human. I was there for Jayce and his story, but everything with Jinx, Vi, and Caitlyn just fell kinda flat for me.

 

[Hawki]

Doctor Who: Invasion of the Autons (3/5)

This is a tripple debut episode of sorts, of the Master, the autons, and Jo Grant. That said, I can't say I'm overly impressed with any of them, or the episode itself.

So, anyway, the Master arrives on Earth, and plans to help the autons invade, and, well, stuff happens. It doesn't have some of the silliness of Invasion of the Dinosaurs, but nothing really stands out. Not even the Master himself, to be frank. I know Richard Delgado is generally well regarded as a Master incarnation, but once again, I think the NuWho versions are much better.

 

[Thaluikhain]

Doctor Who: Invasion of the Autons (3/5)

This is a tripple debut episode of sorts, of the Master, the autons, and Jo Grant. That said, I can't say I'm overly impressed with any of them, or the episode itself.

So, anyway, the Master arrives on Earth, and plans to help the autons invade, and, well, stuff happens. It doesn't have some of the silliness of Invasion of the Dinosaurs, but nothing really stands out. Not even the Master himself, to be frank. I know Richard Delgado is generally well regarded as a Master incarnation, but once again, I think the NuWho versions are much better.

"Terror of the Autons".

Jo Grant was rubbish, the Autons weren't as good as the first time around (Spearhead from Space was their debut, and it also was the first Pertwee story and first one in colour, and introduced the new UNIT set-up and Liz Shaw) when they were ripping off Quatermass, but I like Delgado as the Master and think NuWho is rubbish.

He got over-used due to his contract, though.

 

[gorfias]

I just finished "Dope Sick" on Hulu. Based on the real life case of a family owned pharm company hard selling Oxycontin and getting people following doctors order addicted and even killing them. An example of what was done? A head FDA officer created a unique label for the drug claiming it to be addictive to less than 1% of the people taking it. That officer then left the FDA and got a job with the Pharm company making $3-400K a year.

 

[Hawki]

Frank Herbert's Dune (3/5)

So, with Dune getting a resurgance with the Villinhue film, I forked out the money for the DVD pack of Frank Herbert's Dune, and Children of Dune. So far, I've watched the first SyFy series - I watched Children of Dune ages ago, but that wasn't a 'proper watch,' so for now, it's just the first one.

Anyway, for starters, this is better than the Lynch film, but that isn't to say it's "good," and there's still some unwelcome influence. The Harkonnens, for instance, remain over the top, cartoon villains. There's thankfully no cat milking, pus milking, or child molestation, but that isn't saying too much. The baron does get a laugh or two, but, well, yeah.

Also the other characters are mostly okay, even if William Hurt is sleepwalking through his role. The production values...okay, they're cheap, but that's not the main issue. What's noticable is that there's a sense of theatricality to the piece. As if, the characters know they're on the stage, and are acting like it. This comes off in the use of lighting, or how characters talk, sometimes. This isn't a good or bad thing in of itself, but it is noticable.

What's also noticable is that the series gives Irulan her own sub-plot, but it's a sub-plot that goes nowhere. She knows that her father aided the Harkonnens in taking down the Atreidies, so spends the second episode finding evidence, only to do...nothing whatsoever with it. SHe's uncovering a mystery that the audience already knows the answer to. I can appreciate the idea of giving Irulan something to do, but nothing is achieved in this plotline.

Costumes are bizzare. I mean, I like the take on the navigators, but everything else...seriously, what happened to fashion in the 41st millennium?

Looking at the story as a whole, things kind of improve as things go on, but a lot of time is spent whispering, uttering terms that are barely explained, or at best, hinted at. It actually raises a question as to how I should treat this TV series - as stand-alone, or as part of a wider story. Because it's a question that does affect how you might see the ending. For instance, there's premonitions of the jijad Paul will unleash, and the whole Kiswatch Hadarach thing, but none of this comes to fruition inside the story itself, and what you're left with is basially a change of ownership on Arrakis, and inside the Imperium as a whole. If you see that as part of a wider story, this issue is mitigated, but if not, then, yeah.

Anyway, the TV series is okay at best, but really can't say I enjoyed it much. Individual elements, sure, but it's let down by its low production values, and writng.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

Arcane

Animated series based on the League of Legends property. Now, I don't play ASSFA... MOBA's, so I had no previous familiarity with the series world, characters or backstory. Fortunately, I also never got the impression I was expected to. Arcane is the story of two twin cities, built practically on top of one another, the wealthy Piltover at the top, the impoverished Zaun at the bottom. The series main viewpoint characters are a pair of sisters who grew up as street urchins in Zaun and a pair of young scientists developing technology based on magic that would eventually bring about a technological revolution. There's a timeskip after the first three episodes, the sisters now separated, one having grown up as the protégé of a Zaunite crime lord, the other one working with Piltovers police uncovering a conspiracy of with that very same crime lord in its center.

So far's the premise. Now, I feel very conflicted about this show. On one hand I'm inclined to say that in terms of not only production value, but just general quality, from presentation to writing to worldbuilding to art direction, it's probably the most well made work of mainstream fantasy fiction in film and television I've seen probably since the Lord of the Rings trilogy. On the other hand, what it is kinda makes me uncomfortable. Straight up, Arcane is nerd porn at its most shameless. The show feels like a pastiche of everything popular with geeks for the past 30 years. Some high fantasy, some Star Wars, some Young Adult adventure, some steampunk, some anime, some superhero stuff and, obviously, some video game stuff. Arcane exists as some unholy algamation of multiple decades of greasy nerd fantasies, a geeky teenagers daydreams adapted to high quality animation in luxurious detail. The truth is, if I were about 10 - 15 years younger, this would be pure cocaine to me. However, being closer to 30 than to 20, and perhaps a bit jaded, it all feels a bit skeevy to me. The gorgeous characters, environments and the slick action (Owing a lot to the similarly visually striking "Into the Spiderverse") set to deliberately jarring pop music create a sort of pop art Neverland of juvenile Millennial obsessions.

The thing is, that doesn't make it bad, though. As much as I would have liked to dismiss Arcane as the same kind of messily hoarded pile of cultural detritus as Spielberg's unwatchable Ready Player One, there's just too much genuinely solid plotting and character development in there to do so. It's a very well executed, if hardly especially original, story about division and what seperates and connects siblings and friends, lovers and enemies. The voice actors all do a fantastic job bringing their characters to life, standouts here being Harry Lloyd who voices terminally ill young scientist Viktor (I adore his accent), Jason Spisak as sinister kingpin Silco (writing and acting elevating what could have been a stock villain to a surprisingly engaging character) and Ella Purnell as his unhinged surrogate daughter Jynx. Which is the thing about Arcane, it's pandering, but it's not the soulless J.J. Abrams kind of pandering. It's clear that this was made by talented people who cared about the story they were telling. Emotions land, characters are memorable, plot beats are well set up and executed.

Arcane presents an overdose of almost dangerously highly concentrated nerd catnip, less a work of fantasy fiction in the tradition of Tolkien and more of a pop art fever dream that's hard to look away from but even harder for me to fully embrace. I imagine there is an audience that's gonna go absolutely nuts for this. Again, as a teenager, this would have become my life. As an adult it presents a type of media I have trouble coming to terms with. It's an impressive, unquestionably well made effort and might very well set new standards for serialized western animation but it's "pastiche of everything you liked when you were 16" now ever so slightly makes me uncomfortable.