- Feb 7, 2011
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Discuss and Rate the Last Thing You Watched (non-movies)
- Thread starter Hawki
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Second that. Gave up a bit through Capaldi (couldn't watch it on TV cause I was working, wathcing it online was too much effort), should have given up earlier.
Every now and then I find myself on the Tardis wikia and it seems that, yes, I should not watch NuWho, or pay attention to the Expanded Whoniverse.
I mean, I know Who is kinda dumb and not really meant to be taken seriously most of the time, but there's a limit to just how much dumb I'm willing to tolerate. I think it's when the rules change from episode to episode(and we start disregarding basic physics and shit like that) depending on whatever the writer feels like and well....pretty much everything is dependent on whatever the writer feels like that particular day is where I stop caring. If there's no fucking consistency, why should I bother trying to keep up?
What really got me is stuff like River Song is so special she can land the Tardis quietly, because it's only noisy when the brakes are left on. Literally everyone, ever, who has used a Tardis in the several decades the show has been running is that stupid, except her. Also, when the Matt Smith Doctor is running around naked in front of Clara's family, because being an alien he doesn't realise humans don't do that, despite interacting with them for decades.
Let me remind everyone that NuWno started with mannequin. And then went to farting aliens. It’s always been stupid
Ultraman Taro series
I have stared into the abyss. The madness has destroyed what little sanity I had left.
Seriously though if you want to see silly as hell Kaiju action I recommended it.
I have stared into the abyss. The madness has destroyed what little sanity I had left.
Seriously though if you want to see silly as hell Kaiju action I recommended it.
The Haunting of Hill House
A show that really puts its best foot forward trying to be good, but can't escape being a tad lame. The first three episodes I'd say are pretty great, but by the fourth somewhat flimsey acting and awkward dialoge starts seeping in. It also ruins the impact of some reveals by spelling things out for the audience, specifically in regards to the end of episode five. I've watched up to episode eight, but I can't say I'm too interested in finishing this show eventhough there's only two episodes left.
A show that really puts its best foot forward trying to be good, but can't escape being a tad lame. The first three episodes I'd say are pretty great, but by the fourth somewhat flimsey acting and awkward dialoge starts seeping in. It also ruins the impact of some reveals by spelling things out for the audience, specifically in regards to the end of episode five. I've watched up to episode eight, but I can't say I'm too interested in finishing this show eventhough there's only two episodes left.
Fear City: New York vs The Mafia
Short documentary series about the big FBI crackdown on the five families that basically ended the mob rule in NY mid 1980s. It's very elementary and nothing I couldn't have known or guessed from watching Sopranos. Most of it is retired FBI agents talking about how wiretaps work and the difficulty in setting them up.
Short documentary series about the big FBI crackdown on the five families that basically ended the mob rule in NY mid 1980s. It's very elementary and nothing I couldn't have known or guessed from watching Sopranos. Most of it is retired FBI agents talking about how wiretaps work and the difficulty in setting them up.
- Nov 27, 2009
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The Good Place.
Pretty interesting actually, while I don't particularly care for theology as I am an atheist, the concept of the afterlife being used to societal systems and hierarchy as well as the nature of virtue and what it means to be good is an admittedly good idea that allows one to make statements that would otherwise be fairly controversial through allegory and therefore be more easily accepted, I think the way the show presents the idea that everyone has at least to some degree the capacity to be good but this gets tainted by both circumstance and attitude is pretty well argued, and while it doesn't address things such as murderers or rapists, it does leave the seed of the idea that everyone can be taught to be good, but different methods are required for different people and one should always approach other people with empathy, or at least that's what I understood from it, there's also the whole thing about changing the system and quite a lot of Capitalist critique (Especially in the last season) that could lend itself to a socialist reading, but I'm probably not smart enough to make that argument so I'll drop that.
In addition to that the characters were actually fairly likeable and to be honest that ending was pretty emotional and I'm not going to lie I cried, a lot, but yeah I was surprised by how good it actually was.
Pretty interesting actually, while I don't particularly care for theology as I am an atheist, the concept of the afterlife being used to societal systems and hierarchy as well as the nature of virtue and what it means to be good is an admittedly good idea that allows one to make statements that would otherwise be fairly controversial through allegory and therefore be more easily accepted, I think the way the show presents the idea that everyone has at least to some degree the capacity to be good but this gets tainted by both circumstance and attitude is pretty well argued, and while it doesn't address things such as murderers or rapists, it does leave the seed of the idea that everyone can be taught to be good, but different methods are required for different people and one should always approach other people with empathy, or at least that's what I understood from it, there's also the whole thing about changing the system and quite a lot of Capitalist critique (Especially in the last season) that could lend itself to a socialist reading, but I'm probably not smart enough to make that argument so I'll drop that.
In addition to that the characters were actually fairly likeable and to be honest that ending was pretty emotional and I'm not going to lie I cried, a lot, but yeah I was surprised by how good it actually was.
- Feb 7, 2011
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Yeah, the ending...is not very good.
The same thing can be said for it's pseudo sequel, The Haunting of Bly Manor.
It seems like the writers started with a somewhat interesting idea and then had clue how to end it in both cases.
Star Trek: Below Decks
This is an animated comedy TV show. What it has in common with the other Star Trek animation is that it's rubbish.
The neurotic, ambitious, rules lover! The hypercompetent rebel/slacker! The naive rookie! The nerdy engineer! Wow, never seen those before. And who'd ever have thought of a comedy situation where the C-team mediocrities are the show's focus instead of heroes?
If you are going to take the most cliched characters imaginable and dump them in a cliched situation, you'd better have a really amazing script. Of course, the problem is that if when your start point is cliched characters in a cliched situation, chances are the script is mediocre too: and so it is. 10 episodes of gamely trying to engage the viewer with characters, predictable plots with predictable resolutions and obvious jokes that you've seen 100 times before in other shows, and chances are a lot of those 100 times they were done better. It's got just about enough energy to stop you turning it straight off so I can't fault their enthusiasm, but I can fault almost everything else.
This is an animated comedy TV show. What it has in common with the other Star Trek animation is that it's rubbish.
The neurotic, ambitious, rules lover! The hypercompetent rebel/slacker! The naive rookie! The nerdy engineer! Wow, never seen those before. And who'd ever have thought of a comedy situation where the C-team mediocrities are the show's focus instead of heroes?
If you are going to take the most cliched characters imaginable and dump them in a cliched situation, you'd better have a really amazing script. Of course, the problem is that if when your start point is cliched characters in a cliched situation, chances are the script is mediocre too: and so it is. 10 episodes of gamely trying to engage the viewer with characters, predictable plots with predictable resolutions and obvious jokes that you've seen 100 times before in other shows, and chances are a lot of those 100 times they were done better. It's got just about enough energy to stop you turning it straight off so I can't fault their enthusiasm, but I can fault almost everything else.
Alice in Borderlands Season 1, Eps 1-2.
This show is...interesting. 3 guys in Japan, suddenly find themselves in an alternate reality(?) where they are forced to play a game where the stakes are life and death for all involved. It's intentionally left vague on how this happened, where everyone else in the world went, and what is going on. You're not sure if they are dead and this is some afterlife, some weird VR thing they were somehow put into, or what. So far, everything is sticking with "technology based, but really fucking weird" so I'm leaning away from the mystical angle for now. But, yeah it's just so weird anything is plausible in the long run.
With the first episode, I was afraid I was about to watch a series entirely about "Super Math Genius Slacker Otaku, using his Uber Math Skills to Save the Day" in every episode. The first one in fact, felt a LOT like a film called Animal World, about, I kid you not, a high stakes, winner take all, loser potentially dies, game of...rock paper scissors. It felt like somebody with Asperger's Syndrome's wet dream of a screen play. And it was just, not good. Episode 1 reminded me a LOT of that. The main character just does some Rainman level of hyper analysis shit that I call total bullshit on. But, whatever, slog through it. He uses his hyper math brain and saves the day, and they move on to the next challenge, with some drama, tension, an addition to the main cast, and a few problems along the way. Rocky start, but some of the characters were good, if the premise made me roll my eyes a bit.
Overall for the episode, a 6/10 for level of engagement and enjoyment.
Episode 2 was much better. The new challenge, was entirely different. Not a "super math brain saves the day" kind of solution, but something way more just ....clever. It felt like an earned way to get around the challenge presented to the protagonists, and didn't rely on Super Math Brain to solve it. I mean, he IS the one that came up with the idea, but it wasn't about like, judging the distances between floors due to echo-location of gunfire, telling him the pattern or some such bullshit. It was more "hey wait a minute, if X is happening, why don't we just do Y to try and minimize the threat? It won't resolve it entirely, but they can't stop us from doing it, and it will greatly increase our odds of survival!" And I'm like "....ok, fair enough, good call there. I approve of that solution, and how he came to it given the circumstances of the challenge." It introduced more supporting characters, that I think will probably (at least one of them ) continue with the main crew for at least a few episodes. More drama has unfolded with some of the cast, as expected. My wife and I felt way more interested in the show at the end of that episode. We will continue to watch it off and on when we are in the mood for something on netflix.
Overall for the episode. 8/10. MUCH better than the pilot, like by an order of magnitude. I was genuinely engaged and interested, not just sort of sighing in frustration and waiting for the end of the episode.
This show is...interesting. 3 guys in Japan, suddenly find themselves in an alternate reality(?) where they are forced to play a game where the stakes are life and death for all involved. It's intentionally left vague on how this happened, where everyone else in the world went, and what is going on. You're not sure if they are dead and this is some afterlife, some weird VR thing they were somehow put into, or what. So far, everything is sticking with "technology based, but really fucking weird" so I'm leaning away from the mystical angle for now. But, yeah it's just so weird anything is plausible in the long run.
With the first episode, I was afraid I was about to watch a series entirely about "Super Math Genius Slacker Otaku, using his Uber Math Skills to Save the Day" in every episode. The first one in fact, felt a LOT like a film called Animal World, about, I kid you not, a high stakes, winner take all, loser potentially dies, game of...rock paper scissors. It felt like somebody with Asperger's Syndrome's wet dream of a screen play. And it was just, not good. Episode 1 reminded me a LOT of that. The main character just does some Rainman level of hyper analysis shit that I call total bullshit on. But, whatever, slog through it. He uses his hyper math brain and saves the day, and they move on to the next challenge, with some drama, tension, an addition to the main cast, and a few problems along the way. Rocky start, but some of the characters were good, if the premise made me roll my eyes a bit.
Overall for the episode, a 6/10 for level of engagement and enjoyment.
Episode 2 was much better. The new challenge, was entirely different. Not a "super math brain saves the day" kind of solution, but something way more just ....clever. It felt like an earned way to get around the challenge presented to the protagonists, and didn't rely on Super Math Brain to solve it. I mean, he IS the one that came up with the idea, but it wasn't about like, judging the distances between floors due to echo-location of gunfire, telling him the pattern or some such bullshit. It was more "hey wait a minute, if X is happening, why don't we just do Y to try and minimize the threat? It won't resolve it entirely, but they can't stop us from doing it, and it will greatly increase our odds of survival!" And I'm like "....ok, fair enough, good call there. I approve of that solution, and how he came to it given the circumstances of the challenge." It introduced more supporting characters, that I think will probably (at least one of them ) continue with the main crew for at least a few episodes. More drama has unfolded with some of the cast, as expected. My wife and I felt way more interested in the show at the end of that episode. We will continue to watch it off and on when we are in the mood for something on netflix.
Overall for the episode. 8/10. MUCH better than the pilot, like by an order of magnitude. I was genuinely engaged and interested, not just sort of sighing in frustration and waiting for the end of the episode.
I think they only not-shit thing to come out of Lower Decks was the design of the Parliament-class ship. That thing is nice. Not spectacular, not boring. Just a nice, middle of the road ship for middle of the road missions. Not every captain is going to be Kirk, Picard or Sisko. And no captain should be Janeway. Janeway shouldn't have been Janeway.
Tales of Arcadia: Trollhunters (seasons 1-2) 8//10
I'm sure most people have seen enough of this to figure out if they like it or not. I've rewatched it since my kids started to enjoy it. All in all the show is pretty solid; nice visual design, an if not original then interesting mythos and also a real fucking murderers row of voice talent: David Hyde, Kelsey Grammar, Mark Hamil, Ron Pearlman, Clancy Brown (they play a villain father and son team and all I think is how the fuck has no one else though to do that?), Lauren Tom and a few others I'm forgetting. Also Angor Rot is one of the scariest villains in this kind of show I've seen in a long time. Also the show is pitched at young adult rather than say Last Airbender's TV-Y7 so our heroes do actually get to kill the villains. Like they don't kill every obstacle they come across because they're you know, sixteen, but with the big and genuine threats the characters do get down to business.
However, it is Dreamworks and it is CGI for TV so it looks kind of cheap. Like main character's sleeping in their day outfit cheap. And some of the High School hijinx are tiresome and I have a feeling its not because I'm twice the age of everyone on screen. Also I think Toby gets the short shrift a bit since even when they give him a magic warhammer he gets played for comedy more than Jim or Claire do. Also while I agree it would be in character for sixteen year olds to make stupid decisions at important moments, it happens a bit too often for my taste.
Overall though, its a really solid urban fantasy series. And also part of an anthology with Aliens and more magic.
Actually, Tuvix is a situation where Janeway was faced with a genuine Kobayashi Maru no-win scenario. Neither option is optimal. Retaining Tuvix murders Neelix AND Tuvok and renders Tuvok's wife a widow and his children fatherless upon their return to the Alpha Quadrant. And like, I loathed Neelix the way Magnus the Red loathes Lemun Russ. And credit where it is due, the episode made Janeway turn off the EMH and do the deed herself. Tuvix is one of Voyager's better episodes; it creates a moral dilemma, and it does not take the easy way out (as was allegedly originally planned) and while yes its ending does restore the status quo, looked at in isolation I'd rank it up with Balance of Terror, Measure of a Man, Drumhead and Darmok as a favourite.
Neelix and Tuvok were already gone. It’s one thing to let a murder happen under your watch. It’s totally another to do the actual murdering. It’s very similar to trolley problem. It’s very different when you have to press the bottom
Yeah, I get it’s no win. There is a difference between letting things be as they are and actively going against history
Tuvok and Neelix are not gone, they are right there in front of you trapped in what is functionally a soft science fiction homunculous that only by authorial fiat is not a brain dead pile of meat and can be recovered from being merged against their will into another being. This back and forth, right here, is why the episode works. It didn't have an easy answer. This is a trolley problem, its just a very micro-scale one.
I really didn't care for the show, I think I stopped after episode 3. All the characters are 1-dimensional archetypes. The one guy and that chick get to having sex with less time together than a porno. Even though time is supposed to be of the essence in these games, the characters take so fucking long to actually make a decision. In the 1st episode, the announcement is made that there's 30 seconds left to open the right door and literally 30 seconds of actual time goes by as the character is deciding to open the door, then an announcement that 20 seconds is left is made (how?). In the 2nd episode I think (the game in the apartment building), they again get to what they think is the right door, the thing they've been searching for the whole game, and the stand there for like a minute deciding whether or not to open it. And the 3rd episode is like all the characters annoyingly crying for half the episode.
And there's just no way the plot makes any sense with how basically all of Tokyo instantly disappeared or how they can kill you basically anywhere. The only type of thing that would make sense is a virtual world or something. It's like Lost, there's no way to tie this whole setup together. All you had to do was keep it simple like say Battle Royale.
I have to agree. I'm not seeing any improvement in Disenchantment. The talent is there, they should be able to make something really good out of the subject material... they just aren't, yet. Guess I'm still willing to give a 4th season a chance, maybe. If Netflix does. Its disappointing, I love the theme song.