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Chamberk posted:Yeah that's a really good episode and everything from that to the end of the season is stellar. West Wing was a hell of a show when Sorkin was on his game. It's all on Amazon Prime
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Sep 10, 2014 10:34
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So I've started Sons of Anarchy out of boredom, and it seems ok so far. I have heard it gets really bad though, around when should I expect that?
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Sep 10, 2014 14:01
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Episode 1.
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Sep 10, 2014 14:03
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IRQ posted:So I've started Sons of Anarchy out of boredom, and it seems ok so far. I have heard it gets really bad though, around when should I expect that? Seasons 1 and 2 are well-paced seasons of soap opera. Season 3 is where it starts to fall apart.
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Sep 10, 2014 14:08
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Season 1 is trashy and flawed but entertaining and shows potential for something greater. Season 2 is a well told story that feels like the show has reached its potential and might be something great. Season 3 is a major step back that feels like the show is losing focus but might be pulling it back together by the end. If the show ended there it would have probably been remembered well. The good arguably outweighed the bad while the central premise still seemed off track there was some resolution and promise that they hadn't completely lost focus. S3 is after is when the show just loses itself in insane ideas, nonsensical tangents, and no clear idea what it wants to do at all. Season 4 is a roller coaster of hope that its coming together and dread that it has no idea what its doing, which wins out by the absurd end. Season 5 is an all too familiar mix of some good things coupled with the now obviously predominant mess of a terrible show. I haven't been able to get through Season 6 in three tries. Its one of the worst things I've ever watched.
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Sep 10, 2014 14:22
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IRQ posted:So I've started Sons of Anarchy out of boredom, and it seems ok so far. I have heard it gets really bad though, around when should I expect that? Stop at the end of season 2. Season 3 was bad with a mediocre finale I guess. Season 4 was mediocre with a terrible finale.
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Sep 10, 2014 14:53
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No don't let him miss the perfume masturbation storyline. Or Venus Van Dam. The last 2 seasons were a lot more bearable with fast forward.
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Sep 10, 2014 15:04
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Let's be honest I will probably watch into when it gets bad. I just wanted fair warning.
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Sep 10, 2014 15:11
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Irish Joe posted:Its kinda sad that the Teen Choice Awards are handing out trophies for shows that haven't aired yet, based on nothing but trailers and advertising jargon. I"m pretty sure it's based on the pre-air screens which pretty much all critics have at this point.
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Sep 10, 2014 15:12
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Irish Joe was probably kidding. I clarified because I realized that it could be confusing for other people but I would just like to emphasize that I personally was not trolled by Irish Joe.
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Sep 10, 2014 15:13
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I can't remember what season it was, but I stopped watching SoA after the episode with someone's daughter in a pit, and the worst delivery of "no" since Episode III. The show had become absolute poo poo long before then, but that scene was the culmination of awful acting and Kurt Sutter's perverse need to (try) be shocking as a replacement for good writing. Really, SoA could have been something special if only Sutter had had someone standing over his shoulder saying "no, that is poo poo, stop writing poo poo you leather daddy psycho fetishist gently caress." But he didn't, so it just devolves into the escapist racist power fantasy of a really deeply unpleasant egotist.
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Sep 10, 2014 15:51
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I don't really think Sons of Anarchy could have ever been a great, or even very good show. It doesn't really have any interesting ideas, and Kurt Sutter isn't a guy who really seems to get how to write well-developed characters. Or even interesting conflict. It could have been less insane and not as long and not as disgusting and have less stupid montages, but that's about it. I mean the whole problem is that once you remove all the horrible poo poo, there is not a lot there. On a basic storytelling level, Sutter and his staff just don't know how to write interesting conflict. They can't just have two characters who are opposed to each other who both have good reasons to do what they do and where you can sort of understand why things are happening and why they are inevitable and so forth. And this has always been a problem. Even the 'good' season 2 starts with a Nazi raping the lead's character mom. Pedro De Heredia fucked around with this message at 16:16 on Sep 10, 2014 |
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Sep 10, 2014 16:05
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In the first season it felt like there was some trashy or stupid stuff but it was an interesting spin on Shakespearean ideas that a good writer could make something really interesting from. Then by the third or fourth season it becomes abundantly clear that the show is trash and stupid from a creator who isn't capable of anything more than that and actually revels in it. That's when you realize the good stuff was just stolen from superior stories and writers such as Shakespeare.
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Sep 10, 2014 16:17
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Chamberk posted:West Wing was a hell of a show when Sorkin was on his game. By 'game' you mean when Sorkin was blowing rails and writing through the night until it got to a point where he was warned about it because he was only just making deadlines and it got so bad during Season 4 that they had to fire him because it was costing them money to wait for him to finish a script. Sorkin is one of those people who, Social Network aside, was a better writer when they were allowed to take whatever drugs they wanted.
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Sep 10, 2014 16:47
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DrVenkman posted:better writer when they were allowed to take whatever drugs they wanted. Ah, just like every artist ever.
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Sep 10, 2014 16:48
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STAC Goat posted:In the first season it felt like there was some trashy or stupid stuff but it was an interesting spin on Shakespearean ideas that a good writer could make something really interesting from. Season 2 is largely pretty good (though a bit trashy) stuff. But man, Sutter just loves violence for the sake of violence. Usually I'm fine with something like that, if it's on a show that isn't taking itself too seriously (Like Strike Back for instance), but when Sons does this gruesome violence and pretends it has a point it just exposes it for the ugly show that it is. Last season with the School shooting is the best example of that. You take a loving school shooting and do nothing with it other than to just say "Violence maaaaan, it's all around us." They're also fond of doing this 'gentle song with VIOLENT IMAGES' montage because, I don't know, it's like irony or something.
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Sep 10, 2014 16:53
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DrVenkman posted:Season 2 is largely pretty good (though a bit trashy) stuff. But man, Sutter just loves violence for the sake of violence. Usually I'm fine with something like that, if it's on a show that isn't taking itself too seriously (Like Strike Back for instance), but when Sons does this gruesome violence and pretends it has a point it just exposes it for the ugly show that it is. Last season with the School shooting is the best example of that. You take a loving school shooting and do nothing with it other than to just say "Violence maaaaan, it's all around us." The entire school shooting was just so that the DA could come at the club for selling guns (because there is a long running plotline about the club trying to get out of the gun business). Sutter could have used any other crime involving guns to achieve the same effect but of course he didn't because he's a hack.
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Sep 10, 2014 17:59
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DrVenkman posted:
Sons was heavily recommended to me by a couple of friends who said they loved it, comparing it to shows like The Shield, Sopranos, and The Wire. I resisted the suggestion at first because they're not people I tend to agree with when it comes to subjective taste like that but I knew the Shield connection and I found the idea kind of cool and one of them said it was based on Shakespeare so I checked it out. I was watching S1 and saw some good (the Macbeth/Hamlet thing) and some bad but mostly felt it was reasonably enjoyable trash and not the lofty stuff my friends had told me. I got into debates with my friends asking why they thought it was so great and they talked it up so much and I questioned by idea that it was trash and thought maybe I just wasn't appreciating it fully. Then I saw the scene where Jax and Tara make love next to the body of the fed they just murdered as he bleeds out and the goofy song he was going to rape Tara to played. Every instinct I had told me to stop watching right then because no show that did that would ever be able to shake that instinct. My friends convinced me otherwise and I kept soldering on, loved the end of the season, and got hooked on S2. But I should have followed my instincts when that song played. It would have avoided everything that followed.
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Sep 10, 2014 18:26
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You guys were right about that supposed netflix/etc buffering circle thing, I'm watching more SoA and didn't notice anything at all.
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Sep 11, 2014 00:07
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I was going to call you sick, but then I remembered that I've been thinking about re-watching Prison Break (which actually is better than SoA).
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Sep 11, 2014 00:25
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Rapey Joe Stalin posted:I was going to call you sick, but then I remembered that I've been thinking about re-watching Prison Break (which actually is better than SoA). I've only seen the first season of Prison Break, but every time it comes up, people go on about how it goes off the rails in the later seasons. Someday I'm going to finish the rest just to see how a show that starts with the Vice President, her brother, the Secret Service, and a shady criminal organization framing Lincoln Burrows for murder can get any more ridiculous.
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Sep 11, 2014 00:39
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JohnSherman posted:I've only seen the first season of Prison Break, but every time it comes up, people go on about how it goes off the rails in the later seasons. Someday I'm going to finish the rest just to see how a show that starts with the Vice President, her brother, the Secret Service, and a shady criminal organization framing Lincoln Burrows for murder can get any more ridiculous. Even reading that, it's tame compared to what happens in the last season.
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Sep 11, 2014 00:41
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JohnSherman posted:I've only seen the first season of Prison Break, but every time it comes up, people go on about how it goes off the rails in the later seasons. Someday I'm going to finish the rest just to see how a show that starts with the Vice President, her brother, the Secret Service, and a shady criminal organization framing Lincoln Burrows for murder can get any more ridiculous. I just want to see how they end up getting superpowers and going to Central City.
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Sep 11, 2014 00:47
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I love that show. It goes full on crazy and it's awesome.
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Sep 11, 2014 00:48
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JohnSherman posted:I've only seen the first season of Prison Break, but every time it comes up, people go on about how it goes off the rails in the later seasons. Someday I'm going to finish the rest just to see how a show that starts with the Vice President, her brother, the Secret Service, and a shady criminal organization framing Lincoln Burrows for murder can get any more ridiculous. I really like Prison Break a lot because it had a ton of great characters in it despite how wacky it got at times. I'd say the hardest part to get through for me was season two. Season one is pretty crazy but in a fun way. Season two is crazy and unfortunately kind of takes itself a bit too seriously at the same time. Season three is an improvement but still plays it a little too straight at times. Season four the gloves are off and it's full on crazy time, but the best part is that the show knows exactly how crazy it is now. And it kind of turns into a heist show at this point which makes it even more fun. Then the series finale ends with a flash forward of sorts that's filled in later by a movie. I still think that last movie is one of the better parts of the series though I think I may be in the minority with that opinion.
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Sep 11, 2014 00:56
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They actually planned another season but when it was canceled they nixed it and wrote up the movie.
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Sep 11, 2014 01:05
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There was a Prison Break TV movie? I'd long quit watching the show by then but I feel like that's something I should have remembered.
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Sep 11, 2014 01:31
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2 hour epilogue.
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Sep 11, 2014 01:31
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raditts posted:There was a Prison Break TV movie? I'd long quit watching the show by then but I feel like that's something I should have remembered. Its the one where Lori gets sent to prison where she meets a streetwise puerto rican lass with a cold exterior, but a heart of gold; and Michael dies from cancer or something. I really don't remember anything about the 4th season and the movie except something about a weather machine and Michael getting really fat.
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Sep 11, 2014 01:35
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Utopia, the unproven reality show that Fox felt was worth giving up two hours of prime-time to this season, dropped from a 2.0 to a 0.9 for its second episode. They've actually managed to make canceling The X-Factor look like a bad decision.
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Sep 11, 2014 01:41
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Deadpool posted:I really like Prison Break a lot because it had a ton of great characters in it despite how wacky it got at times. I'd say the hardest part to get through for me was season two. Season one is pretty crazy but in a fun way. Season two is crazy and unfortunately kind of takes itself a bit too seriously at the same time. Season three is an improvement but still plays it a little too straight at times. Season four the gloves are off and it's full on crazy time, but the best part is that the show knows exactly how crazy it is now. And it kind of turns into a heist show at this point which makes it even more fun. Then the series finale ends with a flash forward of sorts that's filled in later by a movie. I still think that last movie is one of the better parts of the series though I think I may be in the minority with that opinion. All of this is true. I really didn't like the last half of season 4 though. The epilogue was a nice wrap-up and better than the finale. It really lost me when the big macguffin of Season 4 turned out to be Some kind of "weapon" that could change the weather and in effect control prices of certain crops... Or something. It's been a while. raditts posted:There was a Prison Break TV movie? I'd long quit watching the show by then but I feel like that's something I should have remembered. It was direct to video - never aired on TV.
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Sep 11, 2014 01:43
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I really hated Season 4 of Prison Break and it's probably one the few shows I'd recommend not finishing. It felt a 1970s variety special where the cast of Prison Break reunites for a few more laughs, and are playing their characters in name only but really just doing a bunch of goofy unrelated skits that don't make much sense and are so far removed from the original show premise or any of the character's motivations. The movie is okay I guess, but requires season 4 to be canon to make any sense, so in that way the movie is terrible.
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Sep 11, 2014 01:48
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J-Spot posted:Utopia, the unproven reality show that Fox felt was worth giving up two hours of prime-time to this season, dropped from a 2.0 to a 0.9 for its second episode. They've actually managed to make canceling The X-Factor look like a bad decision. I saw the last couple minutes yesterday before Hotel Hell came on, and there was a guy who I assume was the host who looked like every sentence out of his mouth should have ended with "m'lady."
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Sep 11, 2014 02:09
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This is the last reminder I'm posting in this thread that many of you have 12 days to finish up your summer Toxxes. This is the list of who's left: * KilGrey - First 2 seasons of Game of Thrones * Bown - 3 seasons of Shameless & season 1 of Masters of Sex * hcreight - Finishing The Wire (3 seasons) * BigRed0427 - Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, And Hemlock Grove. * Open Source Idiom - All of Twin Peaks * Comfy Chairs - One season of The Wire, one season of Sopranos * Uznare - First 2 seasons of Person of Interest - Starting July 14th. * precision - Season 2 of Orange is the New Black. * TurboFlamingChicken - First 3 Seasons of The Wire * MrSlam - Seven seasons of Tales from the Crypt * Amy Renee - First three seasons of Community * Irish Joe - The Tracey Morgan Show and the first two seasons of Moone Boy * Ghosthotel - all of Six Feet Under * EccoRaven - first two seasons of Friday Night Lights * Doctor Butts - First season of Twin Peaks * GobiasIndustries - Seasons 5-7 of True Blood (done) & Seasons 1-2 of The Wire. * BSam - Season 1 of Arrow * Mahlertov Cocktail - Both seasons of Twin Peaks * DivisionPost - First season of the Rockford Files on Netflix * Mechanical mandible - both seasons of House of Cards Remember that you need to post a 100+ word review of what you watched in the Summer Toxx thread before midnight Pacific on the 22nd. Don't make me actually have to like... use mod powers. 
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Sep 11, 2014 02:12
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Dear Annakie how much do I rule for completing my toxx in record time
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Sep 11, 2014 02:14
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The next season of Korra starts October 3rd. The last season ended like three weeks ago. It's hilarious how hard Nick is trying to kill that show.
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Sep 11, 2014 02:15
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i hope every one of those names gets banned
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Sep 11, 2014 02:15
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MrAristocrates posted:The next season of Korra starts October 3rd. The last season ended like three weeks ago. I thought they weren't doing it until January?
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Sep 11, 2014 02:15
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muscles like this? posted:I thought they weren't doing it until January? Nope!
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Sep 11, 2014 02:16
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Deadpool posted:I really like Prison Break a lot because it had a ton of great characters in it despite how wacky it got at times. I'd say the hardest part to get through for me was season two. Season one is pretty crazy but in a fun way. Season two is crazy and unfortunately kind of takes itself a bit too seriously at the same time. Season three is an improvement but still plays it a little too straight at times. Season four the gloves are off and it's full on crazy time, but the best part is that the show knows exactly how crazy it is now. And it kind of turns into a heist show at this point which makes it even more fun. Then the series finale ends with a flash forward of sorts that's filled in later by a movie. I still think that last movie is one of the better parts of the series though I think I may be in the minority with that opinion. Yeah, that's the vitally important thing about Prison Break, good characters and a self-aware writing staff. So despite being absolute bollocks it works within its own setting and you care about what happens. Contrast that to SoA where every character is a charmless sack of poo poo and Kurt Sutter thinks that he is some sort of super cool biker Shakespeare.
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Sep 11, 2014 02:16
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