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Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe

withak posted:

The audience didn't know about the ancients until they are shown. All we know before the last episode is that some kind of vampire SWAT team has appeared twice and they are probably important.

I know but its the big reveal of the finale. Knowing ahead of time that the confrontation with the Master would be necessarily anti-climactic, its even more important to make that reveal impactful and it wasn't.

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...of SCIENCE!
Apr 26, 2008

by Fluffdaddy
Much like the people who defend Kevin Smith with "yeah his movies suck poo poo but he's such a great speaker!" and then you listen to his talks and it's just him telling the same Hollywood stories he was telling 5 years ago in between bragging about his hot wife and his fleshlight 'n poo poo and poo poo like that n' poo poo, Del Toro is somebody who is constantly getting apologists for his bad and badly-written movies because his monster designs and practical effects so good yet crap like The Strain comes along and it's like he's not even trying anymore.

PriorMarcus
Oct 17, 2008

ASK ME ABOUT BEING ALLERGIC TO POSITIVITY

Pacific Rim's monster designs were loving awful too. In fact, everything designed for that film was, but the monsters especially had no reason to be so loving lazy and bland.

Name Change
Oct 9, 2005


He hasn't really done anything great since 2006, but we're not really at Tim Burton levels of dilution or Kevin Smith levels of "never actually gave a poo poo about the art of filmmaking." But stuff like this where it's just Blade II vampires and a really loving bad script with low production values is pretty disheartening.

Generic American
Mar 15, 2012

I love my Peng


PriorMarcus posted:

Pacific Rim's monster designs were loving awful too. In fact, everything designed for that film was, but the monsters especially had no reason to be so loving lazy and bland.
... Them's fighting' words, my friend. :clint:

Whispering Machines
Dec 27, 2005

Monsters? They look like monsters to you?

PriorMarcus posted:

Pacific Rim's monster designs were loving awful too.

They were?

Slamhound
Mar 27, 2010
Season 2 preview has been posted

Drifter
Oct 22, 2000

Belated Bear Witness
Soiled Meat

They CAN walk about in daylight now, I see.

Zzulu
May 15, 2009

(▰˘v˘▰)
Hm, I enjoyed this season. I watched most of it in a stretch so i didn't have to wait for the next episode, which probably helped with pacing.

It had some slow parts and I didn't like the makeup on the master. Worst part was definitely the child actor, whenever he's in frame everything goes to poo poo

On the flipside the German guy owns every scene he's in and the other actors are fine and I like the premise a lot. The FX also seems to be pretty drat great most of the time, at least for a TV show. The writing leaves something to be desired though

Definitely going to check out season 2

Zzulu fucked around with this message at 14:38 on Oct 14, 2014

Party Plane Jones
Jul 1, 2007

by Reene
Fun Shoe

Generic American posted:

... Them's fighting' words, my friend. :clint:

Yeah if anything the kaiju and jaeger designs were really the highlight of the movie, especially Cherno Alpha.

Truther Vandross
Jun 17, 2008

Finished this last night. The finale was a bit of a letdown.

I'll probably watch season 2 if it airs in the summer again because there's not poo poo else to watch, but if this returns during the regular TV season, I just don't care enough to make time for it.

InfiniteZero
Sep 11, 2004

PINK GUITAR FIRE ROBOT

College Slice

...of SCIENCE! posted:

Del Toro is somebody who is constantly getting apologists for his bad and badly-written movies because his monster designs and practical effects so good yet crap like The Strain comes along and it's like he's not even trying anymore.

You can say whatever you want about Del Toro's recent film output, but his knowledge of film and his ability to discuss it is way up there. He did a series of lectures and discussions around Hitchcock films in Toronto and he would say more interesting stuff about film in five minutes than Smith has in his life.

Does this give "The Strain" a free pass? Of course not, but comparing Smith and Del Toro is a stretch.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe

InfiniteZero posted:

You can say whatever you want about Del Toro's recent film output, but his knowledge of film and his ability to discuss it is way up there. He did a series of lectures and discussions around Hitchcock films in Toronto and he would say more interesting stuff about film in five minutes than Smith has in his life.

Does this give "The Strain" a free pass? Of course not, but comparing Smith and Del Toro is a stretch.

Yea its definitely fair to criticize Del Toro's work but I think its pretty insulting to compare him to Smith. As far as I'm concerned the guy that made Pans Labyrinth has a lifetime pass from every being compared to shitheads like Smith.

TheBalor
Jun 18, 2001

Basebf555 posted:

Yea its definitely fair to criticize Del Toro's work but I think its pretty insulting to compare him to Smith. As far as I'm concerned the guy that made Pans Labyrinth has a lifetime pass from every being compared to shitheads like Smith.

What's the problem with Kevin Smith? I'm genuinely curious, since I never pay attention to these people outside their movies.

Basebf555
Feb 29, 2008

The greatest sensual pleasure there is is to know the desires of another!

Fun Shoe

TheBalor posted:

What's the problem with Kevin Smith? I'm genuinely curious, since I never pay attention to these people outside their movies.

He comes off as an arrogant prick in interviews and even his own podcast. Del Toro comes off as a genuinely nice, thoughtful guy that I'd want to talk about movies with.

And my main point was that Pan's Labyrinth is a loving masterpiece of cinema compared to anything Smith has ever done in his career. Even when I was 15 years old I thought Clerks was alright but nothing amazing.

Paladinus
Jan 11, 2014

heyHEYYYY!!!

TheBalor posted:

What's the problem with Kevin Smith? I'm genuinely curious, since I never pay attention to these people outside their movies.

Nerds hate him because he's made some bad films, not only cult classics like Clerks or Dogma.

Red State is really good, though.

Zzulu
May 15, 2009

(▰˘v˘▰)
Guillermo directed one episode out of the 13, which was the pilot

He's a writer on the show and one of the creators of the story and premise, but he's doing very little camera work or production afaik. Carlton Cuse is the executive producer and showrunner

Phenotype
Jul 24, 2007

You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.



So now that the season's over and we know for sure there won't be another one (on my TV), can someone spoil Eph's "transformation" that required him to wear an awful wig all season?

fletcher
Jun 27, 2003

ken park is my favorite movie

Cybernetic Crumb
You guys are so hard on this show. It's not perfect and there are some annoying parts (that stupid kid) but it's just the right amount of cheesiness and entertainment to keep me tuning in.

Drifter
Oct 22, 2000

Belated Bear Witness
Soiled Meat

fletcher posted:

You guys are so hard on this show. It's not perfect and there are some annoying parts (that stupid kid) but it's just the right amount of cheesiness and entertainment to keep me tuning in.

You have super low standards. Good luck with that.

fletcher
Jun 27, 2003

ken park is my favorite movie

Cybernetic Crumb

Drifter posted:

You have super low standards. Good luck with that.

Ehhh there is a lot worse on television these days than The Strain.

Josh Lyman
May 24, 2009


fletcher posted:

Ehhh there is a lot worse on television these days than The Strain.
Under the Dome is easier to watch.

Drifter
Oct 22, 2000

Belated Bear Witness
Soiled Meat

Josh Lyman posted:

Under the Dome is easier to watch.

:drat:

spookygonk
Apr 3, 2005
Does not give a damn

Josh Lyman posted:

Under the Dome is easier to watch.

God, no.

MiddleOne
Feb 17, 2011

Josh Lyman posted:

Under the Dome is easier to watch.

:iceburn:

Esroc
May 31, 2010

Goku would be ashamed of you.
I somehow missed that this show even existed and marathoned the entire first season yesterday. I really enjoyed it but came and skimmed this thread only to see that goon consensus appears to be that its bland and terrible?

I don't see why, really. It's certainly not redefining the genre, the people in it are remarkably stupid (80% of the problems they run into could have been avoided by anyone with an IQ over double digits), and The Master looks like a muppet, but the show has a lot of charm and I quite enjoyed sitting back and watching it all unfold.

Maybe a lot of my enjoyment was due to the back-to-back nature of my viewing, because I loved how the show started slow and mysterious only to gradually ramp up into near Vampire Apocalypse over the course of 13 episodes. The vampires are proper monsters and not brooding male models which is a welcome return to form, and I appreciated the zombie-esque transitional period. Also, Fet is a badass and I want to be like him when I grow up.

There's a lot of issues with the show, but there's also a lot to like.

Rocksicles
Oct 19, 2012

by Nyc_Tattoo
The advantage of binging a whole season vs waiting week in week out. Story is always better on the binge

pentyne
Nov 7, 2012

Esroc posted:

I don't see why, really. It's certainly not redefining the genre, the people in it are remarkably stupid (80% of the problems they run into could have been avoided by anyone with an IQ over double digits)

This was by far the biggest complaint. The level of stupidity and moronic decisions passed the point of acceptable for a TV sci-fi drama and just got worse and worse. Even if the whole point was that the old billionaire had people in power making sure things went his way tons of stuff was ignored by otherwise sane people and especially female doctor who freaked out and was horrified by the killing of the vampires because it was 'wrong'.

One of my favorite moments of stupidity was when the Hispanic guy and his friend were getting attacked by a vampire, they fight back and bash in its head, then a bunch of cops run over and rough up the 2 Hispanic guys and arrest them while there is a horrifically modified corpse nearby that the cops just ignore and assume the Hispanic guys were thugs.

And the FBI turning into total assholes, smacking around head doc, and honestly believing that he somehow stole and hid a few dozen bodies for some reason.

Really, almost everything up until the last 2-3 episodes was the plot forcing people to act beyond any sense of reason or common sense to stretch out the plot. Did they really need 3-4 episodes where head CDC doc is 'on the run' and gets narc'd out by his ex-wifes new beau, or the way too many scenes where he's in a courtroom/office trying to fight to keep his kid? None of that was good storytelling in any way and just served to pad out the episodes where nothing happened of any significance.

edit: Going back though my old posts, the show was really bad up until episode 7 when we finally started seeing some action. Myself and almost everyone in the thread was complaining about the slow pace of the show and the constant 'human drama' being dragged into the show.

pentyne fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Dec 1, 2014

Drifter
Oct 22, 2000

Belated Bear Witness
Soiled Meat
Hello, Darkness, my old friend. I thought I had seen the last of you months ago.

well well well...

Name Change
Oct 9, 2005


Esroc posted:

I somehow missed that this show even existed and marathoned the entire first season yesterday. I really enjoyed it but came and skimmed this thread only to see that goon consensus appears to be that its bland and terrible?

I don't see why, really. It's certainly not redefining the genre, the people in it are remarkably stupid (80% of the problems they run into could have been avoided by anyone with an IQ over double digits), and The Master looks like a muppet, but the show has a lot of charm and I quite enjoyed sitting back and watching it all unfold.

Maybe a lot of my enjoyment was due to the back-to-back nature of my viewing, because I loved how the show started slow and mysterious only to gradually ramp up into near Vampire Apocalypse over the course of 13 episodes. The vampires are proper monsters and not brooding male models which is a welcome return to form, and I appreciated the zombie-esque transitional period. Also, Fet is a badass and I want to be like him when I grow up.

There's a lot of issues with the show, but there's also a lot to like.

I am one episode into Helix, it's about twice as silly and nonsensical as The Strain, but also about twice as good and hilarious. Try that.

Whispering Machines
Dec 27, 2005

Monsters? They look like monsters to you?
Helix is amazing. It's goofy as gently caress but much more enjoyable than The Strain. It's about a virus outbreak at a massive underground science lab in the arctic, and the CDC goes to investigate. It's like if 28 Days Later were written by Michael Bay and then that movie had a big dumb baby with Resident Evil.

It starts off like a scientific sci-fi drama and then sort of just becomes more manic until by the last episode you're pretty much at Fringe levels of insane.

GreenNight
Feb 19, 2006
Turning the light on the darkest places, you and I know we got to face this now. We got to face this now.

Helix season 2 starts soon. I think 12 Monkeys will be my next show, which also starts up soon.

InfiniteZero
Sep 11, 2004

PINK GUITAR FIRE ROBOT

College Slice

Phenotype posted:

So now that the season's over and we know for sure there won't be another one (on my TV), can someone spoil Eph's "transformation" that required him to wear an awful wig all season?

Season 2 starts in the summer. They've been shooting in Toronto.

Phenotype
Jul 24, 2007

You must defeat Sheng Long to stand a chance.



InfiniteZero posted:

Season 2 starts in the summer. They've been shooting in Toronto.

The operative phrase there was "on my tv", as in, for me, there will be no second season.

Still kinda curious about the transformation that necessitated the terrible wig, though.

Whispering Machines
Dec 27, 2005

Monsters? They look like monsters to you?
I'm guessing its for blending in, eg when the vampires take over everything, and all the humans in their concentration camps/cattle farms have shaved heads IIRC

a real rude dude
Jan 23, 2005

Phenotype posted:

The operative phrase there was "on my tv", as in, for me, there will be no second season.

Still kinda curious about the transformation that necessitated the terrible wig, though.

The wig is only bad if you know what he looks like without it, the more distracting thing is the other guys stupid dyed jet black beard and hair, it's ridiculous.

GreenNight
Feb 19, 2006
Turning the light on the darkest places, you and I know we got to face this now. We got to face this now.

Max Charles (American Sniper) will play Dr. Ephraim Goodweather's son in the second season, in a recasting

bring back old gbs
Feb 28, 2007

by LITERALLY AN ADMIN

GreenNight posted:

Max Charles (American Sniper) will play Dr. Ephraim Goodweather's son in the second season, in a recasting
Honestly surprised they didnt double down on the stupid and cast the animatronic kid who plays Abel from Sons of Anarchy

Zzulu
May 15, 2009

(▰˘v˘▰)
the kid fuckin sucked, so good call

unless the new kid also sucks

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Paladinus
Jan 11, 2014

heyHEYYYY!!!
Meh, they should have replaced the whole cast with guinea pigs. One kid can't save the show at this point.

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