Random TV Show Thoughts

[Totenkindly]

Love, Death, and Robots (Season 2, Netflix)

The entries this time (while also being far less in number than Season 1) also tend to be more thoughtful and less about videogame violence and sex, even though they have elements of both throughout. Maybe a more mature offering than Season 1 in some respects.

Automated Customer Service: Quirky style, amusing, but nothing surprising / we've all seen it before

Ice: Maybe the most unique animation style in Season 2. Lots of backstory unexplained, but I would watch a longer feature expanding on these concepts. Reminds me a bit of Aeon Flux in terms of the elongated styles. Beautiful in its own way.

Pop Squad: One of the most human stories in the bunch, a blend of Blade Runner just aimed in a different direction. The sad shots get old / didn't quite evoke as deeply as more unique ones, but the story is interesting.

Snow in the Desert: Maybe the most like Season 1 in theme but with an interesting subplot. (Or maybe that is the plot and the violence arc is the subplot.) The setting / tone reminds me of Tattooine.

The Tall Grass: A bit more unique art style, and easily more unsettling than Netflix's "In The Tall Grass" which bored me so much I couldn't even finish it. The end feels a bit of a copout and also kind of just trails off, but the meat of it is pretty scary.

All Through the House: This is amusing, and it also doesn't overstay its welcome. It has one punchline in mind and makes it and then gets out.

Life Hutch: Pretty straightforward action excerpt that feels like it belongs in part of a bigger story. yeah, I think that is Michael B. Jordan there. So it's well-done for what it is, yet feels incomplete.

The Drowned Giant: No punchline, no quirky ending, nothing really unexpected. Kind of a throwback meditation pieces that generates its own feelings of antiquity and loss and makes you wonder whether we are the giant or the little people and what that means for us as a people.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Love, Death, and Robots (Season 2, Netflix)

The entries this time (while also being far less in number than Season 1) also tend to be more thoughtful and less about videogame violence and sex, even though they have elements of both throughout. Maybe a more mature offering than Season 1 in some respects.

Automated Customer Service: Quirky style, amusing, but nothing surprising / we've all seen it before

Ice: Maybe the most unique animation style in Season 2. Lots of backstory unexplained, but I would watch a longer feature expanding on these concepts. Reminds me a bit of Aeon Flux in terms of the elongated styles. Beautiful in its own way.

Pop Squad: One of the most human stories in the bunch, a blend of Blade Runner just aimed in a different direction. The sad shots get old / didn't quite evoke as deeply as more unique ones, but the story is interesting.

Snow in the Desert: Maybe the most like Season 1 in theme but with an interesting subplot. (Or maybe that is the plot and the violence arc is the subplot.) The setting / tone reminds me of Tattooine.

The Tall Grass: A bit more unique art style, and easily more unsettling than Netflix's "In The Tall Grass" which bored me so much I couldn't even finish it. The end feels a bit of a copout and also kind of just trails off, but the meat of it is pretty scary.

All Through the House: This is amusing, and it also doesn't overstay its welcome. It has one punchline in mind and makes it and then gets out.

Life Hutch: Pretty straightforward action excerpt that feels like it belongs in part of a bigger story. yeah, I think that is Michael B. Jordan there. So it's well-done for what it is, yet feels incomplete.

The Drowned Giant: No punchline, no quirky ending, nothing really unexpected. Kind of a throwback meditation pieces that generates its own feelings of antiquity and loss and makes you wonder whether we are the giant or the little people and what that means for us as a people.

I liked what I saw of the first one, but I have yet to watch them all.

Also I watched the first episode of Mare of Easton; seemed to capture the place pretty well.

 

[Totenkindly]

I liked what I saw of the first one, but I have yet to watch them all.

Also I watched the first episode of Mare of Easton; seemed to capture the place pretty well.

Yeah, don't it? It's freaky-scary like the same look and feel as places I grew up or habituated. It all feels so familiar to me.

(It's Easttown, different place -- but yeah, Easton might fit there as well to some degree. I went to college in Easton. In fact, Easton is where I found my first Wawa -- this is back in the 80's. I only grew up with Highs and Sheetz back where I was from.)

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Yeah, don't it? It's freaky-scary like the same look and feel as places I grew up or habituated. It all feels so familiar to me.

(It's Easttown, different place -- but yeah, Easton might fit there as well to some degree. I went to college in Easton. In fact, Easton is where I found my first Wawa -- this is back in the 80's. I only grew up with Highs and Sheetz back where I was from.)

I didn't see anything I directly recognized, but I was like... this definitely seems like somewhere very close to where I grew up.

I do miss Wawa.

 

[Totenkindly]

The Jupiter's Legacy adaptation feels pretty shoddy, like it is just recycling ideas from other superhero shows without really digging into anything. The action sequences also feel shoddy, like trying to elevate action from "Hercules" TV show or something. There's a lot that isn't explained, it's not really clear what the focus of the show is, and characters doesn't really feel that real. It should be more thoughtful than the transition to the screen is showing.

Kampouris (Chloe Sampson) and Ben Daniels (Walter Sampson) seem to be the best actors on the show, but Chloe's plotline is a jumble. Walter's not an interesting character but Daniels is an old veteran from some decent shows and just seems to make himself interesting to watch.

Also, Kurtwood Smith gets a short cameo and he blows everyone away. It's like, why couldn't we get more Kurtwood? He's an accomplished veteran actor who knows how to elevate the stories he's in.

There is so much that isn't explained, the two plotlines makes it hard to determine the gist of the show or what should be happening, it's not clear where younger people got their powers, and so on.

I think there is a core story here -- you get a hero from the 20-30's who is still alive, but the world has changed and yet he doesn't want to change with it. In the process, he's kind of an asshole to the younger generation (much as my generation and younger are disillusioned by Boomer behavior and expectations), in the way that a paladin can be an asshole in an AD&D game. He's got rules he judges everyone by when they don't follow them, but can't accept maybe his rules don't make sense. He has two kids who respond to this in two ways -- one tries to please him and mediate the family interactions, while at the same time it's clear he's not going to be able to follow his dad's rules forever, and the other just cuts loose from the family and goes her own way. How do the kids reach a place where they feel fulfilled and happy, contributing to the world in some way?

But the show isn't really honing in on this and has lots of superfluous crap. The writing also just isn't that sharp.

EDIT: Season 1 ended better than it started and has a bit more development. We now also see why (knowing his backstory) The Utopian might be so fixated on the Code, as it provided stability for him when he was having a breakdown + enabled them to be given powers to start with. But talking about "The Code" in such an abstract way often feels ludicrous; at least the show kind of agrees with that by the end, that it existed more to support Sheldon's sanity but isn't necessarily the best way to choose moral behavior in a given situation. At least also by the end of Season 1, we have an idea what threat the Union is needing to deal with and who is behind it.

Jupiter's Legacy Cancelled — But Netflix Has Already Ordered a Spinoff

Yeahhhhhhh baby!

 

[Totenkindly]

So much for the "Drake & Josh" sequel.

(Unless it's rated R or takes place in a jail.)

Drake Bell, star of 'Drake & Josh,' arrested for crime against child

 

[Totenkindly]

I have watched the first three episodes of "SOLOS" on Amazon Prime. There are seven (three more regular, and I have heard the 7th episode wraps them together).

Critics have been pretty harsh on them, there's only about a 50% positivity rate or so. I think this is misguided. Everyone is comparing them to Black Mirror or something similar, and so of COURSE the show is coming up short.

To me, Solos is best understand to be filmed "stage monologues" by various acclaimed actors. There's not really a plot, although we get a sense of story about each character. it's like the Boseman monologues in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" which were adapted from a stage play, or the excerpts from the Vagina Monologues, etc., except these happen to be filmed and put on TV with an actual (relatively static) set, with one single actor at best, and occasionally another voice played into the scene. But they are not plot-oriented stories. They are character sketches/explorations, really, to express the internal landscape of the person in question as they grappled with questions about alienation and mortality, their own emotional difficulties, and finding some kind of catharsis if possible.

As such, the effectiveness really depends on the featured cast for each vignette. The first three episodes feature Anne Hathaway, Anthony Mackie, and Helen Mirren. I would say each does a stellar job basically monologuing for 30 minutes through a wide range of emotion. Sometimes the characters will interact with other versions of themselves, which adds its own challenges.

I think if you view them as stage monologues with the "plot" not being external but the internal movement of the character in question, they become far more interesting -- and each of these thespians so far has shown why they are considered to be at the top of the game in today's casting. The writing itself has its high moments and then sometimes just average moments, and the scenarios aren't always the most unique, but the performances are pretty decent so far.

 

[Burning Paradigm]

Not sure why I stopped watching Downton Abbey years ago, but I started again, and I'm enjoying it immensely so far.

 

[Totenkindly]

Has anyone watched this show called "Manifest"? Apparently Netflix is now showing the first two seasons. (I think it's aired three or is in the middle of the third, it started in 2018.)

I resent the comparisons to "Lost" because they are not really the same kind of show -- the only points of similarity is (1) it's essentially speculative fiction rather than realistic and (2) there's an airplane involved. But otherwise the main issues, the locale, and the approach are different.

The gist is pretty simple -- a plane takes off, a plane lands after a weird storm, and when they land it's the flight time to them but 5.5 years later to the rest of the world. Right now they're dealing with impact of that on their prior lives (since everyone else picked up and moved on), but the 828 folks are also now experiencing weird phenomena (music, or voices in their heads) that is leading them to do things that end up fixing problems. (So far it's led them to solve crimes / save people.) No one knows what happened to the plane, why, or what the long-term purposes was to it all, if such things exist.

It's okay enough I watched two episode and will keep watching, although the jury for me is still out on how logical/thoughtful the show is. I can't figure out whether it's a decent "B" show or a low-end "A" show at this time.

 

[Pessimistic Hippie]

Bob's Burgers is my comfort zone and I will be absolutely devastated whenever it finally ends. I barely even actually pay attention to it; it's usually just on in the background as I mellow out.

It's been scheduled to have at LEAST 13 seasons. So hopefully once it IS over, I'll have enough to keep me satisfied as far as reruns go for a long time.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I would like to do a TJ Hooker style hood grab but only if my stunt double is up to it.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I would like to do a TJ Hooker style hood grab but only if my stunt double is up to it.

I listened to a podcast where they discussed the "trouble with tribbles" and that bit where Kirk opens the storage bin and all the Tribbles came out was mentioned. They speculated that the stagehands/prop department must have enjoyed getting to throw things at Shatner.

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

I listened to a podcast where they discussed the "trouble with tribbles" and that bit where Kirk opens the storage bin and all the Tribbles came out was mentioned. They speculated that the stagehands/prop department must have enjoyed getting to throw things at Shatner.

I would not be surprised one bit

 

[Totenkindly]

I listened to a podcast where they discussed the "trouble with tribbles" and that bit where Kirk opens the storage bin and all the Tribbles came out was mentioned. They speculated that the stagehands/prop department must have enjoyed getting to throw things at Shatner.

I would not be surprised one bit

The prop department was hoping the episode would be entitled "The Trouble with Tables," because tribbles are far too soft.

 

[Totenkindly]

After Passing On Manifest Season 4, Netflix Orders Two Seasons Of Dating Show Where People Dress Like Animals - CINEMABLEND

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

Cancelled my netflix a couple months ago. Their original programming used to be cutting edge but it's just gone downhill. Will resub whenever a new season of Cobra Kai is released. They cancel all the things I love. Mindhunter, MST3K, et al. To be fair, I guess those were more niche audience shows and the relatively high budgets weren't justified by comparatively low numbers of viewers. They don't even have a great library of films anymore. That used to be one of their major selling points for me, back when they carried a lot of great horror and documentary stuff. I've never really been a big TV guy, because I don;t like the commitment involved in sitting down to watch an entire series. So when they started focusing on original programming, they started to lose me. Hate to say it but Amazon is just so much better for both TV and film, even more so if you get an addon like AMC or Shudder. Especially with them purchasing MGM now. That really opens the door for some new possibilities coughcoughJamesBondexpandedcinemativ&tvuniversecoughcough

 

[Totenkindly]

Yeah, I still have Netflix mostly because my kids also use it, but definitely it moved down in the middle of the pack at best compared to other streamers. I remember when their early original programming was (like Pixar) "always gonna be good." And when their first "eh" series aired (Marco Polo). Now they just seem to be a glurge of middling of the road programing (and sometimes even bad), with a few stellar originals -- and because it's so much crap, it's hard to curate it or know what is worth viewing. This leads me to not watch much at all, because the odds are decent I'll be watching something not worth my time. I also kinda hate all the automatic play they've instituted on everything, it feels invasive. There are a few things left that I have heard are good (the occasional film, or a series like "Dark", etc.) that I still want to view.

I spend more time in Amazon Prime or in Hulu, though. (And HBO Max.) I also have a Shudder account but need to catch up there on about 25 films. I just started watching Archer again on hulu -- so damned funny.

 

[Totenkindly]

I have watched the first three episodes of "SOLOS" on Amazon Prime. There are seven (three more regular, and I have heard the 7th episode wraps them together).

Critics have been pretty harsh on them, there's only about a 50% positivity rate or so. I think this is misguided. Everyone is comparing them to Black Mirror or something similar, and so of COURSE the show is coming up short.

To me, Solos is best understand to be filmed "stage monologues" by various acclaimed actors. There's not really a plot, although we get a sense of story about each character. it's like the Boseman monologues in "Ma Rainey's Black Bottom" which were adapted from a stage play, or the excerpts from the Vagina Monologues, etc., except these happen to be filmed and put on TV with an actual (relatively static) set, with one single actor at best, and occasionally another voice played into the scene. But they are not plot-oriented stories. They are character sketches/explorations, really, to express the internal landscape of the person in question as they grappled with questions about alienation and mortality, their own emotional difficulties, and finding some kind of catharsis if possible.

As such, the effectiveness really depends on the featured cast for each vignette. The first three episodes feature Anne Hathaway, Anthony Mackie, and Helen Mirren. I would say each does a stellar job basically monologuing for 30 minutes through a wide range of emotion. Sometimes the characters will interact with other versions of themselves, which adds its own challenges.

I think if you view them as stage monologues with the "plot" not being external but the internal movement of the character in question, they become far more interesting -- and each of these thespians so far has shown why they are considered to be at the top of the game in today's casting. The writing itself has its high moments and then sometimes just average moments, and the scenarios aren't always the most unique, but the performances are pretty decent so far.

Finished this, the latter half wasn't as interesting. There's an attempt to tie the last one in to the other episodes, but I did not feel that was successful as much as it might have been. Again, there's some decent one-person performances (Constance Wu owns that camera), although interestingly I liked least the one that ties most into the COVID quarantine scenario. I'm not sure of the overall point of Nera, which actually has two people involved (as does Stuart)... it is the most "plot" oriented visually of the mix, but the only way I could relate to it was maybe as the experience of parenthood and how it can sometimes feel to deal with a developing child. You would think as the most active of the episodes (versus downright soliloquy) it might have been more obvious, but it felt like it was the least informative.

Anyway, the whole thing ends up feeling like a semi-failed experiment. The character sketches and performances can be interesting, but it doesn't really congeal into something bigger for the season; it's still mostly just a mostly random collection of speculative performances, kind of a showcase for the actors and the writers.

 

[ceecee]

 

[Kingu Kurimuzon]

oh they bumped it back to fall