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Ror posted:I've sort of wanted to start the new Doctor Who for years now, but there just seems like so much to get through. I watched the first several episodes and enjoyed them, but they all just seem a bit too long and a bit too cheesy for me to commit to a few hundred more. There's less than 100 episodes of new Doctor Who right now, not hundreds, if that makes you feel better. Also, it took me until near the end of season 1 to really get into it when I started less than two years ago but once it starts hitting its stride a little past halfway in season 1 you start getting really pulled in, and also I think it makes the earlier episodes a bit better on rewatch (though I usually skip The Unquiet Dead on rewatches, as it's one of my least favorite.) Try skipping ahead to "The Empty Child" / "The Doctor Dances", it's a two-parter and probably the best of the first season. You can also try skipping to season 2 to see if David Tennant is more your thing, or skip ahead to season 5 when Matt Smith becomes the Doctor and the show has a big shift in tone and visual style.
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Aug 15, 2012 15:26
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Nate RFB posted:It's not really about who "had it worse", though. The story told in BoB and the cast it involves is simply far more engaging. I like the last few episodes of The Pacific as well but quality of a program is not proportional to how grim it is. What I mean is the shows, despite being made by the same crew or whatever, had completely different tones and goals. Band of Brothers is your traditional WW2 storyline. The Nazis are bad, the Allies were patriotic, in it together, heroes, and proud of what they'd done. Then you've got The Pacific, which is more like a Vietnam movie. The war isn't shown as glamorous, the characters are traumatized by the experience and commit atrocities, most of them come away feeling ashamed of the whole thing in the end. Even the only real "hero" of the series, Bastonne, ends up landing on Iwo Jima after spending the whole episode training his men, making plans for the future, and getting married, only to have his entire unit cut to shreds. No matter what he does, he can't save any of them, he only leads them all to their deaths, until he too is finally killed. The episode is like a kick in the stomach. It depicts war as an awful brutal affair in which you live or die not through heroics but sheer blind luck. No amount of leadership or grit or patriotism can save you. The whole series is almost a rebuttal to the worship of WW2 as "The Best War Ever" and the men fighting it as some sort of demi-gods. So I think its a matter of preference in style and expectations. The first time I watched The Pacific I was expecting Band of Brothers Part II. The second time I watched it I excepted it as something completely different than Band of Brothers and enjoyed it a lot more. Edit: I also prefer The Pacific's plot curve. BoB starts out slow, peaks in the middle, and then closes out gently. The Pacific starts slow and then slowly raises the intensity with each episode as they fight their way closer and closer to Japan until at the end they seem to be in Hell itself. It's a very Heart of Darkness/Apocalypse Now approach and I found it captivating. Especially the contrast between the verdant jungles they find themselves in the beginning, where they are barely a blip in the midst of a vast wilderness with the devastated mud-filled landscape towards the end, where war has destroyed absolutely everything around them. Class Warcraft fucked around with this message at 17:49 on Aug 15, 2012 |
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Aug 15, 2012 17:33
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Ror posted:I've sort of wanted to start the new Doctor Who for years now, but there just seems like so much to get through. I watched the first several episodes and enjoyed them, but they all just seem a bit too long and a bit too cheesy for me to commit to a few hundred more. I know that there are some real gems of episodes and a lot of great mythology threaded throughout, but I have trouble spending 45 minutes of my time on TV that doesn't strike me as particularly brilliant (the third episode, The Unquiet Dead, hit me with this a bit right when I was still trying to get into the series). Yeah, I wasn't really big on the first few series because it's almost too goofy for me. The new doctor is still goofy but it feels less goofy at least, so maybe you should just skip there, because it's a big jump in tone as the showrunner changed. For continuities sake you just need to watch the episode "Blink", the two-parter "Silence in the Library" and then you can skip to series 5 with Matt Smith.
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Aug 17, 2012 17:14
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Wow Terriers is show that takes its time to hook you in. If you have Netflix and haven't seen this yet, you definitely should. I'd heard it hyped up in the past, and the lead actor has always seemed like a chill dude and enjoyable to watch, but the plot seemed kind of drab. The show starts to grow on you as it progresses though. I can see why it was canceled though. Its not phenomenal by any means. Any chance of it being brought back for a second season? I probably would have been even less inclined to start watching it had I known there was only one season  .
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Aug 18, 2012 00:20
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Flippycunt posted:(Explanation) Yeah you pretty much got exactly why I like The Pacific so much, it's on the other end of the spectrum of "war story" and it portrays that side of it so well. A lot of soldiers who come back from combat don't want to talk about what they experienced over there, and I've never seen a series before or since that accurately portrayed that to the point where I, as the viewer, don't even want to dwell over the imagery that I've seen. And the series did such a good job at showing how the combat evolved from mowing soldiers down with machine guns to guerrilla tactics and fighting over barren muddy ridges on remote islands for a negligible advantage. Plus following a mortar squad was a good change of pace to the standard group of riflemen in war movies/shows. Basically, Band of Brothers: This is why we fight. The Pacific: This is why we fight?
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Aug 18, 2012 10:19
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Someone said that it takes until episode 6 for The Wire to click for a newbie. I don't know if I can make it that far - I watched the first episode and it was an ordeal to make it through to the end. Does it stay a dry, slow-paced courtroom/cop drama forever? Emphasis on dry. Do you need to have a taste for that kind of slow burn style to appreciate it? I churned through The Shield, Breaking Bad and Deadwood with no problems but this might be a bit too dry and serious to capture my interest.
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Aug 23, 2012 05:42
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chancy posted:Someone said that it takes until episode 6 for The Wire to click for a newbie. I don't know if I can make it that far - I watched the first episode and it was an ordeal to make it through to the end. Does it stay a dry, slow-paced courtroom/cop drama forever? Emphasis on dry. Do you need to have a taste for that kind of slow burn style to appreciate it? I churned through The Shield, Breaking Bad and Deadwood with no problems but this might be a bit too dry and serious to capture my interest. I'd give it at least till episode 2. It definitely stays slow burn and relatively dry but it's an extremely well done slow burn with extremely rewarding payoffs. Thinking of it as a visual novel is the way to go. Some people won't like that format and that is fine if it doesn't meet your tastes, but it's worth at least a little more effort to give it a shot though. The other thing is that the show is just as much about the criminals and the city itself as it is a cop drama. It's not a case of the week show, the criminals you get to know now stick around and are just as deeply portrayed as the cops. The legal stuff is dry, but you will find a deep connection to the characters. FuriousxGeorge fucked around with this message at 05:57 on Aug 23, 2012 |
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Aug 23, 2012 05:50
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chancy posted:Someone said that it takes until episode 6 for The Wire to click for a newbie. I don't know if I can make it that far - I watched the first episode and it was an ordeal to make it through to the end. Does it stay a dry, slow-paced courtroom/cop drama forever? Emphasis on dry. Do you need to have a taste for that kind of slow burn style to appreciate it? I churned through The Shield, Breaking Bad and Deadwood with no problems but this might be a bit too dry and serious to capture my interest. It just clicks at some point and the scope of the show gets much wider. I loathed the show at first and it took a few years before I gave it a real chance. Don't force yourself or anything and if you can't get into it now just put it on the back burner and try it again later. It really is a wonderfully engrossing show once you get used to it. It's funny as hell too. If it means anything the main reason why I ever gave the show another chance was when I saw Charlie Brooker review it. I don't think he's ever praised anything so highly before. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ2iGYwdEi8 Mu Zeta fucked around with this message at 06:12 on Aug 23, 2012 |
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Aug 23, 2012 06:09
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chancy posted:Someone said that it takes until episode 6 for The Wire to click ... I churned through The Shield If you made it through The Shield you'll definitely want to stick with The Wire. The Wire is sooooooooooo much better in every way.
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Aug 23, 2012 06:25
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I just did a binge watch (though it took several months) through the entire MASH series. It's virtually impossible for me to take in any kind of culture without writing copiously about whatever it is. I may eventually do some kind of essay to try to deal with the series as a whole, but as I was going through it episode by episode I decided to kind of a do a sort journal/notes kind of things. For example here's what I wrote up about the Pilot. I dunno if anyone would be interested in reading this stuff. If so, I can post more. Pilot (1.1)  So, a journey through MASH. Does it need a justification? Hmm, no, I don’t think so. I should lay out my complete lack of qualifications for writing lengthy, in-depth posts for every episode of MASH. First of all, prior to buying the complete series on DVD, I had seen exactly one episode of the show on television. That’s right, one episode. Also, I hated the movie and thought the book wasn’t much better. But critical acclaim for the series made me decide to give it a shot and why watch a series from start to finish if you’re not going to blather about it in rambling posts like this one? So, let’s get started. The Pilot is from 1972. Given my interest in chronology and the fact that the chronology of MASH seems to be hotly debated on the net, I feel that I should mention that this opens with a straight up date stamp of “1950, 100 years ago.” So, we’re definitely at the beginning of the Korean Conflict. So, this George Morgan who plays Father Mulcahy here. Is it just me or does he look a lot like Mark Hamill? Of course, I am aware that George Morgan isn’t long for the show. He appears here as Father Mulcahy, but is replaced when the series proper starts. So, there’s a fairly long sequence prior to the theme. This is, I think, the only episode this happens on. It briefly introduces all of the characters, engaging in activities of various kinds. And then leads into Radar catching a football and then pausing, hearing the helicopters coming. There’s a great zoom over his shoulder to the helicopters and then we’re into the basic title sequence, only it’s a bit longer, with some added bits. Nothing of substance. Ah, the ol’ golf ball into the minefield gag. Always a classic. First operating scene is the first post-title scene. Hmm, this episode is narrated via the device of Hawkeye writing a letter home to his dad. It seems that this is a device that is returned to over and over through the series. So, it’s kind of interesting that they just straight up start the series as a whole via that device. First fight is of course between Frank and Hawkeye. It starts in the OR over Frank bawling out a nurse. I have to say the jokes here are not brilliant. Spearchucker is sleeping in the Swamp. I hear he doesn’t stick around long. I’ll try to keep track. He’s played by Tim Brown who was in the original movie. In the movie, his name was given as Judson and here he’s Jones, but it’s obviously supposed to be the same character, right? First good joke in the episode is about six minutes in, from Wayne Rogers as Trapper, reading a letter from home: “Bad news from my wife. She still loves me.” Yes, that’s the best one so far. Trust me. So, Hawkeye and Trapper have to raise a couple of thousand dollars in order to send Ho-Jon to the states to attend Hawkeye’s old alma mater. You know, they actually give Hawkeye this horrific line to Ho-Jon when Ho-Jon asks Hawkeye how he can ever thank him for helping get him into college in the US. He says, “You just go back there and become the best possible you you can.” I mean, I’m sorry, but that’s just dreadful. So, the best thing about the Altman movie was the dynamic between Henry Blake and Radar and the series does a great job in their first scene together of Blake being, like in the movie, perpetually a step behind Radar. “Pierce and McIntyre to see you, sir.” *Pierce and McIntyre enter* “Show them in.” So, Hawkeye decides to raffle off a weekend in Tokyo with Lt. Dish, a nurse with “so much body she should be continued on the next girl.” Cue terrifically unfunny montage of Hawkeye harassing Dish. Second fight in the episode comes when Frank gets mad at Hawkeye and decides to smash the still. Stupendously unfunny scene. I mean, it’s pretty terrible. They even do a really awful “boioioioingngngngng” sound effect when he grabs the still. The Painless Pole is mentioned as buying a raffle ticket. I understand this is the only time he’s referenced at all in the series. So, Henry and his main squeeze, a nurse name of Scorch, have to go down to Seoul to see General Hammond. Radar provides the weekend passes, but unfortunately Frank being acting commander, the raffle is cancelled. At least until Hawkeye gives Frank a shot in the rear and our happy band of misfits wrap him up like a mummy and Hawkeye writes orders that he be kept sedated. Spearchucker shows up to the party, it being a costume party, dressed as a samurai. And for a second, when I saw him coming in with the big samurai hat, I thought he was wearing a Darth Vader costume, which would be pretty amazing, this episode being from 1972 (and SET in 1950). So, Margaret realizes Frank is missing and can’t find him. Hawkeye won’t tell her anything, so she calls General Hammond in Seoul who is played by G. Wood, who also played the character in the movie. There’s a very funny flashback to Margaret and General Hammond working together in Fort Benning. And by working together, I mean making out violently on top of a medicine cabinet. I think it’s the only time I actually laughed out loud watching this episode. So, General Hammond and Henry fly down to the 4077 after Margaret’s call. Radar, the only person to have heard the helicopter coming, is there to meet them at the pad, bedpan on head. He did come directly from the party. It’s something I’ll be coming back to a lot, but Gary Burghoff is the only possible person who could sell a lot of these moments. So, Lt. Dish is in suspicion that Hawkeye is going to fix the raffle so that he wins. He’s a gentleman though and he actually fixes it so that Father Mulcahy wins. George Morgan’s anguished reaction is about the only thing he actually does in this episodea s Mulcahy. I don’t think he has a single line. So, General Hammond shows up and places Hawkeye and Trapper under arrest, but then a large shipment of wounded arrives and then Hawkeye and Trapper so impress Hammond in the OR that he dismisses the charges. Big surprise there. So, for the credits, the cast list is read over the PA system with a short clip of each of them. Hilariously, Odessa Cleveland, who plays a nurse named Ginger, is given a full credit along with all the others despite the fact that she has exactly two lines in the episode. Okay, so there are a couple of things I wanna do on this little journey. One is, of course, to create a ranking of all the episodes in order of quality. This will, of course, be changing and mutating as we go along. For now, it’s rather a short affair. Pilot, despite the fact that I find it to be a generally weak episode, gets to come in at number one. See list appended to the end of this post. Second thing I wanna do is create something I’m calling The Abridged MASH. Now, the show’s a classic; it’s one of those shows that people should watch and, despite a lot of continuity problems, I think the show does have a definite emotional arc through the series and it really is one long story about these people, at least at its best. But when you want to go through the Korean Conflict again with the crew of the 4077th, you’re faced with a problem, namely that there are over two-hundred and fifty episodes, which adds up to a lot of hours. What if you want to take that trip, but don’t have the time to go through all the episodes again? Well, that, quite simply, is what The Abridged MASH is for. I’ll be picking episodes for this abridgement as we go. Which episodes make the cut? I don’t even know yet. Will I be cutting the show in half? By a fourth? It’ll be interesting to see. But the point is to give a solid abridgement, one that respects the story, the characters and the emotional arcs and points being made by the show. Strictly, in other words, the best and the most essential episodes. I’ll be appending that list to the end of each post too. Nothing this post, however, because, horror of horrors, the Pilot does not make my list. It’s a mainly uninteresting episode and it’s not essential. In fact, it’ll make the abridgement flow better than the whole series since Lt. Dish is heavily featured here only to disappear immediately as the series progresses and, as previously mentioned, we have a different actor as Father Mulcahy. So, no, in my abridgement, you can skip this episode. I know it’s the Pilot; I know it’s historic and important. It’s also not a very good episode. Hmm, so far I have a 100% rejection rate. This abridged MASH may be really short. Anyway, that’s it for this time. * out of **** stars. Gene Reynolds, Larry Gelbart MASH Episodes, by Quality: 1. Pilot.
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Aug 23, 2012 15:59
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Doctor Who revival. Just started Season 3. All I can say is holy poo poo why was I not watching this from day one??
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Aug 23, 2012 16:18
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Just started re-watching Jericho, my girlfriend hadn't seen it before. Not sure what the general public thought of it, but I loved this show. I rarely get hooked on a show in the first episode, but this one got me.
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Aug 23, 2012 18:02
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I powered through all of Stargate SG-1, Stargate Atlantis, the movies, and at the moment i'm in season 2 of Stargate Universe. I absolutely hate every. single. character. in this show. All of them are terrible and so is every person involved in the making of this poo poo pile but I like the stargate universe too much to not watch it.
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Aug 24, 2012 03:34
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Mu Zeta posted:It just clicks at some point and the scope of the show gets much wider. I loathed the show at first and it took a few years before I gave it a real chance. Don't force yourself or anything and if you can't get into it now just put it on the back burner and try it again later. It really is a wonderfully engrossing show once you get used to it. It's funny as hell too. And what's more, he's gushing like that over it without having even seen Season 4.
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Aug 24, 2012 03:59
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triplexpac posted:Just started re-watching Jericho, my girlfriend hadn't seen it before. Not sure what the general public thought of it, but I loved this show. I rarely get hooked on a show in the first episode, but this one got me. It can be very campy, but camp isn't always a bad thing. Personally, I loved the show and the ending left a lot to be desired. So I finally finished LOST. Season 6 is certainly the weakest season as many have said in this thread, but I still enjoyed it. I'm not the type to nitpick about little questions that were never answered, so it didn't anger me like the rest of the internet. And as much as I do not want to admit it, the last episode got to me. It almost made me tear up, ALMOST. Now, I am in a quandary. I watched through The Booth at the End in a few days (which is FANTASTIC, by the way). I'm going to watch Luther, but after that I have nothing. I started watching Prison Break, and although I think it is a cool concept, I am a bit apprehensive after the first couple episodes. Should I continue watching, or is it not worth my time?
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Aug 24, 2012 07:10
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Exploder posted:Now, I am in a quandary. I watched through The Booth at the End in a few days (which is FANTASTIC, by the way). I'm going to watch Luther, but after that I have nothing. I started watching Prison Break, and although I think it is a cool concept, I am a bit apprehensive after the first couple episodes. Should I continue watching, or is it not worth my time? The first 13 episodes are the very best Prison Break has to offer (although I loved the whole first season). I'm not sure how far you've watched, but if you're about five or six episodes in and still aren't entertained you can simply stop.
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Aug 24, 2012 08:04
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Exploder posted:It can be very campy, but camp isn't always a bad thing. Personally, I loved the show and the ending left a lot to be desired. You're probably not going to listen to me, but you should watch The Vampire Diaries. Seriously. Unless you just have an irrevocable aversion to vampires, I am 90% sure that if you liked Lost you'll like The Vampire Diaries. It's an entire series that is at the same pace as Lost season 4. It doesn't have the "big mysteries" like Lost did, but it has that same sense of urgency that I loved about Lost season 4. There's no prophecy of threat of something happening at the beginning of a season that doesn't get resolved until the end of the season, like Buffy or something. If there's a threat, you can be it'll be addressed within an episode or two. If someone says something is going to happen, it happens sooner rather than later. It's like Chekov's gun if the gun was introduced in the first act and then used in the first act. There's no loving around or meandering in The Vampire Diaries. I've said this many times before, but it's like every episode is a season finale. However, the first few episodes of the first season are kinda dull. It takes a bit for things to pick up, but once they do the pace is relentless and never slows down. Also Stefan is always pretty bad, but he gets kinda better for a bit in season 3. And it has BOONE in it. I'm 0% gay but goddamn, Ian Somerhalder... those eyes...  I know I'm doing a terrible job at forming a cogent argument as to why people should watch VD, but I don't know how to sell it to people who I assume are wary of vampire shows and think VD has to be some Twilight or True Blood poo poo. I have 0 interest in vampires but I still loving love the show. It, and Revenge to a lesser extent, has filled the Lost-shaped hole in my heart. God I cannot loving wait for season 4. Holy crap.
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Aug 24, 2012 08:09
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Conduit for Sale! posted:You're probably not going to listen to me, but you should watch The Vampire Diaries. Listen to this advice, it is really good. One thing to bear in mind: the first 3 or 4 episodes are your standard horrible teeny-bopper vampire slash fare. There's an annoying crow, a sappy start to a love story, awful diaries that are read out loud, a horrible pop soundtrack, and MIST in GRAVEYARDS. Don't be fooled. These first episodes are necessary to introduce everything, but they're not representative of the series at all. After those initial episodes, it's as if the writers took a step back and said to each other "Why are we making this cheesy poo poo when we could be making something good?" and with that they ditch the annoying stuff, crank the pacing to 11 and never look back. Plus there's a certain character arc that is beloved by everyone that watches it. You'll know it when you get there.
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Aug 24, 2012 08:33
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Cactus posted:Listen to this advice, it is really good. One thing to bear in mind: the first 3 or 4 episodes are your standard horrible teeny-bopper vampire slash fare. There's an annoying crow, a sappy start to a love story, awful diaries that are read out loud, a horrible pop soundtrack, and MIST in GRAVEYARDS. Ugh, I forgot about all that poo poo. I'm really glad I stuck with the show. poo poo starts to get real about episode 4 or 5 when Damon kills that teacher, then turns Vicki, then kills Vicki, then kills Stefan's bff. Damon owns.
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Aug 24, 2012 08:55
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Rogue1-and-a-half posted:I just did a binge watch (though it took several months) through the entire MASH series. It's virtually impossible for me to take in any kind of culture without writing copiously about whatever it is. I may eventually do some kind of essay to try to deal with the series as a whole, but as I was going through it episode by episode I decided to kind of a do a sort journal/notes kind of things. For example here's what I wrote up about the Pilot. I dunno if anyone would be interested in reading this stuff. If so, I can post more. This was very interesting. You should make a blog and post them there one-a-day, like people have done for The Simpsons (eg http://meblogwritegood.wordpress.com/ )
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Aug 24, 2012 09:10
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DominoDancing posted:The first 13 episodes are the very best Prison Break has to offer (although I loved the whole first season). I'm not sure how far you've watched, but if you're about five or six episodes in and still aren't entertained you can simply stop. I'd say, you'll know whether you want to keep going or stop after the two-parter 'Riots, Drills and the Devil' early in season one. Watch up to there, then decide. That said, I personally think that Prison Break season one is one of the most solid seasons of any TV show, it's very tight and tense. Beyond season one, know that the show reinvents itself each season, with very differing themes, so if you choose to continue, be ready for that. (Spoiler below if you want to know the theme of each season.) It's universally agreed upon that season one is by far the strongest, though the other three seasons do have an excellent new character throughout, and their own strengths. When I first watched it, I quit in the middle of season four. I recently rewatched it with my fiancee on the understanding that 'We'll stop at the end of season one', but we broke that rule and are now in the middle of season three. For this reason I can't talk about whether the show has a satisfying ending - perhaps someone else can chime in on that point. SPOILER: The themes of each season follow. 1. Prison Break 2. Fugitives 3. Prison Break 2: Break Harder 4. Heists HUGE SPOILER: The rough storyline of each season follows. 1. Breaking from prison using the pre-made plan encoded in tattoos, investigating the conspiracy that put Lincoln in there. 2. Having broken from prison, fugitives trying to track down Westmoreland's money and clear their names, pursued by various parties. 3. Recaptured in Mexico and now trying to escape THE WORST PRISON, with no plan, and to break out one particular prisoner who the Company want out. 4. Trying to expose the Company's conspiracy by stealing their records.
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Aug 24, 2012 09:42
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Conduit for Sale! posted:You're probably not going to listen to me, but you should watch The Vampire Diaries. Seriously. Unless you just have an irrevocable aversion to vampires, I am 90% sure that if you liked Lost you'll like The Vampire Diaries. Well, I never could get into Buffy or True Blood, and I think I watched 5 minutes of Twilight and nearly vomited, but I wouldn't say I have an irrevocable aversion to vampires. The X-Files is one of my favorite shows of all time, and one of my favorite episodes was Bad Blood. So, that has to count for something. I will check it out, and it's on Netflix so that is a bonus. I'm only three episodes in to Prison Break so far, so I will continue. I just wanted to know if it was worth it. I've asked around about it and it seems to get mixed reviews, but the general consensus seems to be that the first season is great television.
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Aug 24, 2012 10:35
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Exploder posted:Well, I never could get into Buffy or True Blood, and I think I watched 5 minutes of Twilight and nearly vomited The Vampire Diaries is absolutely nothing like those shows, I promise. The only one of those I like is Buffy, but that's a totally different show. It was much more about characters and high school poo poo, while VD is all about plot (not that the character development suffers for it). From what little I've gathered about Twilight, the vampires are brooding sad sacks who don't actually kill anybody? Stefan is kinda like that, and also just is dumb and boring in general, but Damon makes up for it by being awesome. For every dumb boring thing Stefan does, Damon does like 5 awesome things. The show isn't afraid to have the protagonists do horrible things, nor is it afraid to kill off major characters to serve the story. I have to stress again that the first few episodes, maybe even the first 6 or so episodes, are not representative of the show as a whole, but once it gets going it's a hell of a ride. At the risk of sounding hyperbolic, VD really is my favorite show on TV right now. It's by no means the best show on TV - that obviously goes to Breaking Bad - but it is the one I have the most fun watching.
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Aug 24, 2012 10:56
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I avoided How I Met Your Mother like the plague for many years. I just assumed it would be unfunny, and, I was really weird about what shows I watched. A person I just met told me to give it a shot and I decided to watch the first episode since I had a few hours to kill at work when my boss left. I loved it after the first episode. The writing was sharp and clever, great performances, and as the series progressed I loved all the callbacks, self-references and subtle moments. I need to pick up Season 7 though.
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Aug 24, 2012 13:23
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Zaburino posted:Yeah you pretty much got exactly why I like The Pacific so much, it's on the other end of the spectrum of "war story" and it portrays that side of it so well. I would like to see a WWI series, just to see how far you could push this concept.
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Aug 24, 2012 13:37
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There hasn't really been much about WWI on TV or in film in America, has there? Probably because we weren't involved that much, I guess. Which is sad, because I personally find WWI more interesting than WWII. Can you imagine living in 1914, having known maybe a few small wars, and suddenly there's a world war. The war to end all wars. And the first use of chemical weapons, and the trench warfare... it sounds horrifying. Not that WWII was any less horrifying, but there's just something about WWI's complete and utter shift in the way war was fought that really interests me.
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Aug 24, 2012 14:05
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Conduit for Sale! posted:There hasn't really been much about WWI on TV or in film in America, has there? Probably because we weren't involved that much, I guess. Which is sad, because I personally find WWI more interesting than WWII. Can you imagine living in 1914, having known maybe a few small wars, and suddenly there's a world war. The war to end all wars. And the first use of chemical weapons, and the trench warfare... it sounds horrifying. Not that WWII was any less horrifying, but there's just something about WWI's complete and utter shift in the way war was fought that really interests me. It's one of those things in history that is REALLY HARD to separate from what comes after it. I teach this to high schoolers, and I have a hard time separating it myself. (I always get some form of "Is this the one with the nuke?" at the start of the unit. No, just the one that made that possible.) What I'm really saying is I'd love to see a WWI drama from the perspective of the Great War. I have criminally not watched Downton Abbey yet, to what extent do they cover WWI?
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Aug 24, 2012 14:15
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Tupping Liberty posted:What I'm really saying is I'd love to see a WWI drama from the perspective of the Great War. I have criminally not watched Downton Abbey yet, to what extent do they cover WWI? It heavily affects the story and the characters, but I don't think they showed the actual war that much. I still have a few episodes left to watch though. I really gotta finish those up soon since season 3 starts in a few weeks.
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Aug 24, 2012 14:22
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Conduit for Sale! posted:There hasn't really been much about WWI on TV or in film in America, has there? Probably because we weren't involved that much, I guess. Which is sad, because I personally find WWI more interesting than WWII. Can you imagine living in 1914, having known maybe a few small wars, and suddenly there's a world war. The war to end all wars. And the first use of chemical weapons, and the trench warfare... it sounds horrifying. Not that WWII was any less horrifying, but there's just something about WWI's complete and utter shift in the way war was fought that really interests me. There is Blackadder, All quiet on the Western front, and a French movie about oen of my favriote historical events Joyeux Noël
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Aug 24, 2012 14:28
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Wezzo posted:This was very interesting. You should make a blog and post them there one-a-day, like people have done for The Simpsons (eg http://meblogwritegood.wordpress.com/ ) Actually, I have started a blog (or rather, re-started after my first one went down in flames). It's at https://absoluteknave.squarespace.com/. It's still very thin right now as I'm just getting this one back up and running again. I just enjoy posting most of what I write on the various forums that I frequent as well. For instance, I did some binge watching of The Dead Zone. Different reviewing style than I'm doing on the MASH episodes, but it's still fun. The Dead Zone Wheel of Fortune The first episode of USA’s six season series that attempts to both adapt King’s epic novel to television in long form and also to springboard off King’s premise into new territory. This first episode hews pretty closely to the novel, which, if you haven’t read, you really must. It’s quite possibly King’s very best novel and one of his most mature works. In the happy surprise category is Anthony Michael Hall as the recently comatose, haggard and haunted, limping, pea-coated psychic Johnny Smith. Walken’s performance in the film remains iconic, but Hall is no slouch; you can’t see much of the John Hughes actor left in him, but he’s surprisingly good in the role. The directorial flourishes that take us in and out of his psychic visions are surprisingly well modulated and don’t look fake, which is about all you can ask for television on basic cable. As this one wraps up, Johnny is awake and is being reluctantly manipulated into helping the police catch a serial killer: So far, so novel. We’ll see where it goes from here. What It Seems Things are still pretty taut here. Chris Bruno is a fantastic Walt Bannerman who, in this telling of the story, is married to Johnny’s former fiancée, Sarah. This allows the show good reason to keep Sarah and Johnny’s biological son, now being raised by Walt, in close and it also helps all the police activity carry its own extra weight. Bruno is extremely good and just keeps getting better. An early scene here of Hall and Bruno outside a victim’s house is stellar, all barely hidden animosity and seething frustration. Quality of Life The opening serial killer case wrapped up in the first two episodes, this episode springs into territory not in the novel as Johnny actually attempts to return to his teaching job. But when his visions seem to indicate that one of the school’s star athletes is about to drop dead of a coronary but the doctor’s don’t agree, Johnny is thrust into an unpopular position. This was a low key episode, but pretty good. Chris Masterson, most famous for Malcolm in the Middle, does a good guest spot as the star athlete struggling with his respect for Johnny and his desire to do right by his team. Enigma In this episode, Johnny helps an old man rediscover the love of his life, a woman he knew in World War II. In the process, Johnny falls in love with the woman himself through the visions he has of her in the past. This is as clumsy as it sounds, culminating in an absolutely terrible sexual vision in which Johnny sort of experiences the man he’s trying to help and the woman he’s looking for having sex decades previously. This is as risible and creepy as it sounds. The production values of the sequences set during the forties are outstanding though; the show is stretching to show that it can pull these money sequences off and they do. Hall does the best he can, which is try to relate the pain of the visions to the pain of his own life and the fact that the woman he loves is now married to someone else. The episode has a bittersweet, poignant close based on this. But the whole episode is a letdown. Unreasonable Doubt As even a cursory glance at the title and knowledge of television tropes will tell you, in this episode, psychic Johnny Smith gets called up for Jury Duty. They have some fun with it, but the episode is so by the numbers, you could probably tell me everything about it right now and you haven't even seen it. Plus, there's a vision late in the episode that could have had real power, as Johnny experiences how it feels to be a defenseless woman sexually assaulted by thugs, but Lieberman muffs it completely. A couple of nice supporting performances help out, but this ain't 12 Angry Men. It is significant for one reason, however, as it is the first episode of the series in which Hall's Johnny is the only recurring character to appear. A great strength of the series as it progresses is the way it allows its cast to appear only when needed; it gives the show a miniseries feel, since the 'standard cast' isn't in every episode. This feels like a watershed a bit, tuning in to a rote crime thriller and seeing only one character from the title sequence actually in the episode. There's really no place for the others and no reason for them; so they aren't here. Simple as that; and how refreshing.
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Aug 24, 2012 16:07
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Tupping Liberty posted:It's one of those things in history that is REALLY HARD to separate from what comes after it. I teach this to high schoolers, and I have a hard time separating it myself. (I always get some form of "Is this the one with the nuke?" at the start of the unit. No, just the one that made that possible.) There's like 3 minutes of war footage over 7 hours of TV. They also set up a nursing unit and you see the most white-washed versions of wounded soldiers ever. Even when a guy is vomiting they show it off screen. Mu Zeta fucked around with this message at 19:06 on Aug 24, 2012 |
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Aug 24, 2012 17:57
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Just finished binging through all of True Blood on HBOGo, Hell on Wheels (Season 1), Alphas (Season 1) via Netflix and am now in the process of re-binging on West Wing now that it's free on Amazon Prime. Hell on Wheels is no Deadwood, but it's fun and goofy western style stuff, so why not. Alphas feels like what Heroes should have been.
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Aug 24, 2012 18:02
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Conduit for Sale! posted:There hasn't really been much about WWI on TV or in film in America, has there? Probably because we weren't involved that much, I guess. Which is sad, because I personally find WWI more interesting than WWII. Can you imagine living in 1914, having known maybe a few small wars, and suddenly there's a world war. The war to end all wars. And the first use of chemical weapons, and the trench warfare... it sounds horrifying. Not that WWII was any less horrifying, but there's just something about WWI's complete and utter shift in the way war was fought that really interests me. Original Upstairs, Downstairs, Series 4. Series 3 ends with the declaration of war, and I'd actually recommend starting there because you get a much better sense of the characters and how things fit in. They didn't have the budget to do war scenes, so it focuses on the homefront, but all 13 episodes of the series are dedicated to it and it is very, very good. Netflix is now streaming it.
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Aug 24, 2012 20:31
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bobkatt013 posted:There is Blackadder, All quiet on the Western front, and a French movie about oen of my favriote historical events Joyeux Noël Huh, I didn't know their were film adaptations of All Quiet on the Western Front. And Joyeux Noël sounds great, thanks.
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Aug 25, 2012 00:33
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Tupping Liberty posted:It's one of those things in history that is REALLY HARD to separate from what comes after it. I teach this to high schoolers, and I have a hard time separating it myself. (I always get some form of "Is this the one with the nuke?" at the start of the unit. No, just the one that made that possible.) What do you mean? It's the one with the trench warfare. It's utterly different from anything before or after it.
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Aug 25, 2012 12:06
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Messyass posted:What do you mean? It's the one with the trench warfare. It's utterly different from anything before or after it. I don't know; before I get them some students tend to think any world war = Hitler. I think it would be easier for those students to get if we maintained calling WWI the Great War. By even calling it WWI it is connected to WWII. It would be like if we called the War of 1812 the Second Revolutionary War. Or chalk it up to bad history teachers.
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Aug 25, 2012 17:06
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Rolled through all six seasons of Oz. Man, that show took a nosedive after Luke Perry's character was introduced and the final season was so rushed/horribly put together...nothing hit the way I imagine the creator wanted it to. It's a shame because the amount of acting talent they had on that show was insane. A ton of Wire/Dexter/Law & Order people. Even Mark Margolis (Hector from Breaking Bad) popped up. And this probably makes me the worst person ever but I laughed when Schibetta comes back from the mental institution after being raped by Adebisi, tries to get strong with the Aryans and gets raped again. The way he was rolled back into the infirmary was the same exact way as he originally was in Season 2. Maybe it was only funny because the original episode was still fresh in my mind.
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Aug 26, 2012 08:16
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Pron on VHS posted:Been watching The Pacific, it's alright. Band of Brothers is one of my favorite things on film so I thought I would love The Pacific but it's kind of a drag. I just finished Part 5 and I don't like any of the characters except for the Sergeant who burns himself on the machine gun and is now selling war bonds back in America. I loved every single character in Band of Brothers, every single one no matter how small their role was, so the drop off in The Pacific is kind of jarring. Is it just me? It was okay. Band of Brothers seemed to have more people with personalities, where Pacific had one or two main characters and the slack jaw crazy guy. It was pretty miserable. If you haven't seen Generation Kill, watch that. I liked it more than Pacific, and almost as much as BoB. Lots of likable characters, and lots of people you want to punch in the face as well. Philthy fucked around with this message at 08:32 on Aug 26, 2012 |
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Aug 26, 2012 08:30
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Another thing I like about Oz is that it has one of the ballsiest pilot episodes I've seen.
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Aug 26, 2012 08:46
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Mu Zeta posted:Another thing I like about Oz is that it has one of the ballsiest pilot episodes I've seen. The whole show is pretty ballsy if you ask me. Messyass posted:I would like to see a WWI series, just to see how far you could push this concept. I have been wanting a proper WWI show for a while now, I hope we get a miniseries for it too. I've only recently come to realize how little I've seen in popular media about it. I imagine once we get to the 100th anniversary of the declaration in a couple years, there will be a glut of projects associated with it. I'd also like to see some perspective from the French, though they are woefully underrepresented in either war's depictions. Something about invisible clouds of death sinking into the bottoms of trenches and killing the wounded and sleeping just seems like a horror movie to me.
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Aug 26, 2012 12:58
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