Random TV Show Thoughts

[The Cat]

maybe a crown
yeah if it were called lord of the crowns
get it together Wazowski.

 

[Totenkindly]

So Ahsoka is keying off the Mandalorian episode in Season 2 where she appears, it's the continuation of the events from that episode.

I've watched the first half of the opener. So far Ahsoka has found the Infinity Stone (sorry, it's just a map actually), and there was the prerequisite takeover of a rebel ship where the second-in-command gets less chair time than George Kirk in "Star Trek (2009)".

It is more polished than the other Star Wars shows -- it's more Andor than Boba Fett -- but it remains to see how good it will actually be. There's no really stupid shit yet, just saying ... the jury is out. Well, there's stuff that is a little dumb (like, maybe it SOUNDS cool to tell your enemy that you have her surrounded and then dramatically have everyone step out to intimidate her, but why on earth would you reveal how many antagonists are ambushing her and where their exact positions are?), but nothing just ridiculously dumb.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

So Ahsoka is keying off the Mandalorian episode in Season 2 where she appears, it's the continuation of the events from that episode.

I've watched the first half of the opener. So far Ahsoka has found the Infinity Stone (sorry, it's just a map actually), and there was the prerequisite takeover of a rebel ship where the second-in-command gets less chair time than George Kirk in "Star Trek (2009)".

It is more polished than the other Star Wars shows -- it's more Andor than Boba Fett -- but it remains to see how good it will actually be. There's no really stupid shit yet, just saying ... the jury is out. Well, there's stuff that is a little dumb (like, maybe it SOUNDS cool to tell your enemy that you have her surrounded and then dramatically have everyone step out to intimidate her, but why on earth would you reveal how many antagonists are ambushing her and where their exact positions are?), but nothing just ridiculously dumb.

I should watch it soon before my Facebook feed finds a way to spoil me. I did not appreciate memes about character deaths for Mando Season 3.

 

[The Cat]

 

[The Cat]

I dont know what it is about anime that is so relaxing. No matter how blue I feel I cant watch Inuyasha and feel better.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I dont know what it is about anime that is so relaxing. No matter how blue I feel I cant watch Inuyasha and feel better.

Another thing I need to get around to watching is Neon Genesis Evangelion. I don't like all anime but the ones I enjoy lean heavily to Cyberpunk. Oh,I have a friend, she showed me Cowboy Bebop and I enjoyed that.

 

[Totenkindly]

My kid has been watching X-Files from Season 1 (He was born during, what, Season 4-5 of the X-files when it was airing? Lol). He's just starting Season 2. We watched s2e4, which had the Vietnam squad surgically modified so they never had to sleep. It was a solid enough episode, but the cool thing is that Krycek shows up -- I was like "RAT BOY!" because that was the fan name. My kid didn't understand why as much until the end of the episode, which spills the beans early on good o' Nick Lea.

I don't remember much of Season 2, so I skimmed the list. Some decent stuff actually there, starting with Duane Barry, but later in the season are back to back faves of mine -- Irresistible and then Die Hand Die Valetzt, the latter of which I just adore. The topical matter was relevant at the time -- "Satanic worship" and "repressed memory syndrome," this was pretty big stuff in the mid/late 80's through the mid-'90s. But the film takes a sharp left turn from humor about 10 minutes in and goes full creep/shock horror. This episode also involves a giant constrictor, yaaaaaas.

I watched it on Hulu and I am suspecting they are cutting stuff on Disney (who owns Hulu) -- the climactic moment, it was really hard to tell what happened if you don't know the episode. I went to Amazon to rewatch the ending on Freevee and I honestly think Hulu was chopping stuff and/or killing the volume on a few moments. That's just screwed up.

 

[The Cat]

Its pretty hilarious how fast Lana became Mallory. Glad to see the show is still well written and performed.

 

[Totenkindly]

Finished Episode #4 of Ahsoka, with Dave Faloni writing all the episodes.

This show seems very SLOOOWW paced in terms of the delivery. I still can't tell whether this is on purpose or whether the editor isn't editing as much as they should to close gaps in speaking due to soundbooth performances (if there were separate performances filmed). I don't think it works for most of it.​

However, in episode #4, there are a few lightsaber conflicts:

• Sabine Wren (mandalorian w/ some jedi training) vs Shin Hati (Sith apprentice). Back, in episode #1:

Hati won by running Wren through with her lightsaber. I'm not sure why Hati (a sith) didn't just kill Wren outright by immediately dragging her saber through her abdomen. Strategically, that's what you do to ensure your enemy is dead; did she think it would be more painful to just let her live with a cauterized hole through her torso? The medical skill needed to reconnect vaporized/cauterized internal organs must be rather complex, so I hate how they just "patch her up" -- like, what, they just get out a tube of flesh caulking and plug the hole? wtf.

​

Here it's amusing because they both seem like kids. I also think Hati must not be as great as she thinks because WREN HAS NO REAL FORCE SKILL -- and yet Wren is a real match for her. Like, it should be a no-contest. Just weird. THey spend a lot of time in episode 3 showing how bad Wren is trying to use the Force and how it's really hard for her to even expand her senses. But competent Jedi/Sith use the Force even subtly during combat, it's how they deflect laser blasts + anticipate attack strategies. They can read their opponent. It shouldn't really be a contest at all.​

• Ahsoka Tanu vs Baylan Skoll: This is actually the "grownup" fight. I love how they find each other, and neither has a weapon out. Here the slow pacing works. Ahoksa is just slowly, cautiously walking towards/around him, and they're just talking. Both are confident in their skill and both know the other is good enough that neither is agitated, trying to blitz the other, or getting edgy. They're just talking for awhile, but the tension is growing. Like the two samurai sizing each other up without needing to draw. Eventually they do draw, but it's very slowly, methodical, practiced, and cautious, nothing wild or out of control. They're just facing off and still feeling each other out, neither wanting to make a mistake by assuming too much. When they do fight, it's a lot of testing blows that increase in complexity over time, until there's some really solid forceful attack strategies. It really felt like a real fight where neither necessarily wanted to kill each other, but they are fighting over the tchotchke so.... they're kinda stuck.

Also, Baylan Skoll's alignment

Lawful Evil. It's really beautiful how he rationally feels out Wren's desire to destroy the map, because she really wants to find Ezra and needs the map to do it even while she's threatening to destroy it. He makes a low-key compassionate argument that is entirely reasonable, but it does mean Wren will need to potentially let the Sith find Thrall. Wren's play obviously is that she thinks she can stop them, if only she can find Ezra, and succeed in both her goals. This wooing of Wren takes quite a long time and I kept expecting Hati to skewer her from the back, but that doesn't happen here. Eventually Wren gives the map to Skoll, after he has promised her that her life will not be in danger (HE'S A SITH, WTF??? Don't trust him), and he will take her with him. Hati then tries to force choke her to death, and she would have died -- but Skoll tells his apprentice to stop, because he made a promise to Wren and they cannot go back on their promises. So this was a huge window in on Skoll's character. Hati only stops because she fears her master.

I actually like the portrayal of Hati by Ivanna Sakhno -- she never really blinks and just looks at people emptily. She projects an air of confidence and threat but isn't as good as she pretends to be, although she's not a slouch either... despite her inability to finish off Wren quickly. She seems to be exactly how a Sith apprentice would act. I wonder what her limits of skill actually are. I don't think she can yet play in the big leagues but if she had no one over her because she was the most powerful, she's probably be rapacious.


---

I'm not really enjoying much the diplomacy/rebellion end of things, it seems a bit broadly written and just isn't as interesting. Hera's kid is played by the actor who played young Elliot in Mr. Robot, incidentally.

 

[Totenkindly]

Someone Called Martin Short's Schtick Annoying, And I Think They're Missing The Point

A recent essay poses the question of if Martin Short is the most annoying actor on Earth, and that opinion totally misses the point.

www.yahoo.com

Yeah, I mean, I've known Martin Short's performances since I was a kid watching SCTV at the time. I don't necessary find him "funny" all the time, he has a very specific schtick, but he's easily one of the best impression artists out there and he's extremely talented and is still performing and winning praise.

I don't think I'd ever bother to call him "annoying" when there are other actors and comedians that pop to mind more readily. But don't expect him to make or break a movie/TV project.

 

[The Cat]

Someone Called Martin Short's Schtick Annoying, And I Think They're Missing The Point

A recent essay poses the question of if Martin Short is the most annoying actor on Earth, and that opinion totally misses the point.

www.yahoo.com

Yeah, I mean, I've known Martin Short's performances since I was a kid watching SCTV at the time. I don't necessary find him "funny" all the time, he has a very specific schtick, but he's easily one of the best impression artists out there and he's extremely talented and is still performing and winning praise.

I don't think I'd ever bother to call him "annoying" when there are other actors and comedians that pop to mind more readily. But don't expect him to make or break a movie/TV project.

ive never found him annoying. i find chevy chase annoying.

 

[Totenkindly]

ive never found him annoying. i find chevy chase annoying.

ROFLMAO.

Well, as a person outside of his work and especially in his older age, and in some of his work, yes. (e.g. Community + real life)

I actually really liked him in Caddyshack.

He was too much of a prima donna -- never quite as funny as he thought he was, and fits better in a supporting role.

Most of the others didn't really have nearly as much hubris (Steve Martin, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis, Catherine O' Hara, etc.)

 

[The Cat]

Im watching Inuyasha all the way through again. This time I'll get to the Final Act, then check out Yasha hine its as good as i rememeber wish i still had someone to snuggle and watch it with, but maybe someday...

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

ROFLMAO.

Well, as a person outside of his work and especially in his older age, and in some of his work, yes. (e.g. Community + real life)

I actually really liked him in Caddyshack.

He was too much of a prima donna -- never quite as funny as he thought he was, and fits better in a supporting role.

Most of the others didn't really have nearly as much hubris (Steve Martin, Dave Thomas, Rick Moranis, Catherine O' Hara, etc.)

I watched Strange Brew with Thomas and Moranis not long ago and it was a really funny movie. I wished though that it lived up to the promise of the beginning which is decades ahead of its time. It's like the best of Adult Swim humor, or Comedy Bang Bang, or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, or something like that. (You'll notice that plot structures or threads are adhered to extremely loosely in these examples.) It later becomes more of a conventional movie with a conventional plot which isn't as funny, although there are still lots of good jokes.

Apparently the beginning was a product of a rewrite, and they ran out of time to do the rest of the movie that way, which is too bad, the hosers.

Chase always did seem overrated to me as a comedic presence. I like him well enough in some of those Vacation movies, though. I think the interactions he has with family members are funny. "Dad, that [Christmas] tree wouldn't fit in our yard." "It's not going in our yard, Rusty, it's going in our living room."

That shows he can play an oblivious doofus pretty well, I think. Actually my favorite Pierce moment is like that, when he reveals that he was only pretending to have seen Beast Master (As though the Halloween party was filled with gatekeepers who cared whether or not he had seen Beastmaster).

I am starting to wonder if SCTV is better than classic SNL, but I haven't seen enough episodes of either.

 

[Totenkindly]

I watched Strange Brew with Thomas and Moranis not long ago and it was a really funny movie. I wished though that it lived up to the promise of the beginning which is decades ahead of its time. It's like the best of Adult Swim humor, or Comedy Bang Bang, or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, or something like that. (You'll notice that plot structures or threads are adhered to extremely loosely in these examples.) It later becomes more of a conventional movie with a conventional plot which isn't as funny, although there are still lots of good jokes.

yeah, that one was a classic in its time. They're not even appropriating since they are both Canadian, lolz.

Apparently the beginning was a product of a rewrite, and they ran out of time to do the rest of the movie that way, which is too bad, the hosers.

Chase always did seem overrated to me as a comedic presence. I like him well enough in some of those Vacation movies, though. I think the interactions he has with family members are funny. "Dad, that [Christmas] tree wouldn't fit in our yard." "It's not going in our yard, Rusty, it's going in our living room."

Durr -- yes, that was the OTHER Chase movie I still love... Christmas Vacation. I didn't enjoy the others as much, but pretty much every moment of NLCV still lands for me. Randy Quaid has become a real psycho over the years, but he's pretty funny in this film too. Plus Julia Louise-Dreyfuss pre-Seinfeld? Vintage!

I am starting to wonder if SCTV is better than classic SNL, but I haven't seen enough episodes of either.

I'm not sure about that, I think the first few years of SNL might still win -- but SCTV was better than most of the on/off drivel over the years. I think it's clear they were all very talented, if not necessarily outright funny at times.

Joe Flaherty, I haven't seen him in much, maybe his highest profile film was Back to the Future 2 when he plays the Western Express guy at the end of the film. Obviously Eugene Levy and Catherine O'Hara got a lot of exposure recently in Schitt's Creek.

 

[Z Buck McFate]

I watched Strange Brew with Thomas and Moranis not long ago and it was a really funny movie. I wished though that it lived up to the promise of the beginning which is decades ahead of its time. It's like the best of Adult Swim humor, or Comedy Bang Bang, or It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, or something like that. (You'll notice that plot structures or threads are adhered to extremely loosely in these examples.) It later becomes more of a conventional movie with a conventional plot which isn't as funny, although there are still lots of good jokes.

Apparently the beginning was a product of a rewrite, and they ran out of time to do the rest of the movie that way, which is too bad, the hosers.

Because this was a highschool favorite, my highschool friends and I still occasionally quote it.

Did you pick up on the fact that it's an iteration of Hamlet? Or did you know before seeing it?

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Because this was a highschool favorite, my highschool friends and I still occasionally quote it.

Did you pick up on the fact that it's an iteration of Hamlet? Or did you know before seeing it?

I knew that before watching it. And so is the Lion King!

 

[Z Buck McFate]

Outside of Strange Brew, my appreciation for Eugene Levy - and several others in that SCTV crowd - didn't really register until Best In Show and A Mighty Wind. Both of those movies have (repeatedly) made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe, mostly due to Levy.

I knew that before watching it. And so is the Lion King!

That one I knew. (I'm one of the maybe 100 people who've never seen it).

 

[Totenkindly]

Yeah, Christopher Guest and Levy cowrote those two films and Guest directed both of them. (Most people remember him mostly as the Six-Fingered Man, but he's a trip. I kinda loved him since Spinal Tap.)

 

[ceecee]

Outside of Strange Brew, my appreciation for Eugene Levy - and several others in that SCTV crowd - didn't really register until Best In Show and A Mighty Wind. Both of those movies have (repeatedly) made me laugh so hard I couldn't breathe, mostly due to Levy.



That one I knew. (I'm one of the maybe 100 people who've never seen it).

I recently made my husband watch it. He did not love it like I do.