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I love Lost while fully admitting that it was a very flawed show. Most people watched it as it aired and haven't returned to it since, and I think many would be pleasantly surprised revisiting it. Binge watching it significantly improves the experience since you don't have time to dwell on the flaws. When it was bad, it usually wasn't terrible, and when it was good, it was extremely good. One thing I always admired was the scope and ambition of the show - it managed to dance the line between being heavily serialized, episodic, and an anthology series of sorts all in one. Also like others have said, the characters and drama around them was well written and you really cared about what happened to them. It sucks that it kick-started the modern era of serialized prestige TV and did so many things right, but will mostly only be remembered for its flaws.Mu Zeta posted:If Lost was made today it would be 6x13 episodes and it would be great. Precisely. It's very much a product of its time, emerging while episodic or only loosely serialized shows were still the dominant format. They weren't sure if they could keep audiences interested over season-long arcs or multi-season arcs and were initially urged by the network to stretch it out as much as they could, which forced them into continually adjusting the course. On a re-watch I did a few years ago, the most notable flaw was not inconsistencies or dropped plotlines (there aren't nearly as many as people remember), but rather the large amount of filler in the first three seasons, with the second three seasons having the opposite problem of having too much happening too fast. I know it will never happen, but I wish some sort of director's cut of the entire show could come out. You could trim the 122 episodes down to about 80 and not lose much.
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Jan 3, 2020 09:39
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Somewhere near the end of the third season they got an end date for the show which meant they stopped farting around and got some momentum and direction. Then Season 4 of LOST was made around the time of the writers strike, forcing them to cut a bunch of episodes. The finale (or final season) really isn't great but it was an attempt to give closure to the characters and themes and wasn't trying to outsmart the audience like GoT was. Although Sayid's ending loving sucked.
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Jan 3, 2020 09:49
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I can appreciate many things The Mandalorian did, like going out of its way to not mimic prestige TV and instead being simple to follow, and also having a look and feel similar to 90's sci-fi and fantasy television shows, albeit a higher budget. But, I tried not to, but found myself dozing off or losing interest every episode. There just isn't much plot to speak of and everything is very low key, low stakes. The editing and cinematography can best be described as "functional". It also feels very much like watching someone play a video game. Intro scene to set up next mission - action - cutscene - action - conclusion scene. Episodes 3-6 are just episodic side missions. However, I fully acknowledge that these are all reasons why someone might actually like the show a lot, but it just wasn't really for me.
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Jan 3, 2020 09:50
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SweetMercifulCrap! posted:I can appreciate many things The Mandalorian did, like going out of its way to not mimic prestige TV and instead being simple to follow, and also having a look and feel similar to 90's sci-fi and fantasy television shows, albeit a higher budget. But, I tried not to, but found myself dozing off or losing interest every episode. There just isn't much plot to speak of and everything is very low key, low stakes. The editing and cinematography can best be described as "functional". It also feels very much like watching someone play a video game. Intro scene to set up next mission - action - cutscene - action - conclusion scene. Episodes 3-6 are just episodic side missions. However, I fully acknowledge that these are all reasons why someone might actually like the show a lot, but it just wasn't really for me. I'm 2 episodes in and that's exactly what I felt: is like watching a videogame, a CRPG to be more specific. A good one, even, but still a video game. Which is kinda interesting but I dunno. I'll watch the whole thing anyway Visually it is very impressive edit: the main character is somewhat boring, though. Kinda like a typical, generic, RPG main character
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Jan 3, 2020 11:36
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He literally gets a new shoulder piece as a quest reward in the second episode, which made me laugh.
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Jan 3, 2020 12:20
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Working my way through News Radio, lots of laughs. Just started season 5 though which is their first episode after Phil's death.  I knew it was coming but I had forgotten where in the show it occurred. Love the strange random episodes they did like the out of nowhere space and titanic ones. Really though, RIP Phil. I wish he were still around.
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Jan 3, 2020 13:44
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Elias_Maluco posted:I'm 2 episodes in and that's exactly what I felt: is like watching a videogame, a CRPG to be more specific. A good one, even, but still a video game. Which is kinda interesting but I dunno. I'll watch the whole thing anyway I don't think it is bad, but it is not great either. Just pretty average (like almost everything Star Wars recently). I think I am officially done with Disney+ for the next 9 months or so. There is not a thing I have a desire to watch or re-watch now after almost 2 months. It really is a sub you only need for a month every year unless you have young kids (hey once I have grand-kids one day I might be a full time subscriber). I am sure the library of originals will build up overtime, but given that they don't allow R rated stuff and that everything is going to be mostly Star Wars/MCU this is something I only need in small doses. Also it's hype by the few idiots who are still upset at Netflix for cancelling Sense8 or OA, as a Netflix killer was greatly exaggerated.
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Jan 3, 2020 14:08
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I tried watching The Witcher and I am definitely disappointed. I haven't played the games or read the books, but the production value looked high and I have heard non-stop praise for it from the internet crowd. The dialogue is awful, the characters are unlikeable or (more often) bland and lacking in personality, and the plot is nonsense. In the first episode there is a big death scene for a character we met 10 seconds earlier, I cannot imagine how it would be possible to care. Does it get better? I love a good fantasy story and was looking forward to this because it looked well-made, but woof. Because it would have to get SO much better to be worth continuing with.
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Jan 3, 2020 15:20
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SweetMercifulCrap! posted:Precisely. It's very much a product of its time, emerging while episodic or only loosely serialized shows were still the dominant format. They weren't sure if they could keep audiences interested over season-long arcs or multi-season arcs and were initially urged by the network to stretch it out as much as they could, which forced them into continually adjusting the course. On a re-watch I did a few years ago, the most notable flaw was not inconsistencies or dropped plotlines (there aren't nearly as many as people remember), but rather the large amount of filler in the first three seasons, with the second three seasons having the opposite problem of having too much happening too fast. I know it will never happen, but I wish some sort of director's cut of the entire show could come out. You could trim the 122 episodes down to about 80 and not lose much. As well as season length, you also have the flow of individual episodes having to be structured around ad breaks and (sometimes more significantly) the entire season structured around sweep weeks (which I don't think are even a thing any more). These both really date older network shows when you go back and binge them. It's not as bigger issue for the sort of shows that tend to fall into some kind of repetitive structure anyway (sitcoms etc), but in something that is supposed to be one long serialised narrative it really fucks with the flow of things.
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Jan 3, 2020 15:32
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Gravy Jones posted:As well as season length, you also have the flow of individual episodes having to be structured around ad breaks and (sometimes more significantly) the entire season structured around sweep weeks (which I don't think are even a thing any more). These both really date older network shows when you go back and binge them. It's not as bigger issue for the sort of shows that tend to fall into some kind of repetitive structure anyway (sitcoms etc), but in something that is supposed to be one long serialised narrative it really fucks with the flow of things. I dunno, sweeps tended to enforce a three act structure even on seasons of television that lacked overt serialisation. I don't think I've seen them harm a show on rewatch. Scheduling around sweeps sucked for sure, but I'd argue that's different to the show.
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Jan 3, 2020 15:38
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Ishamael posted:Does it get better? I love a good fantasy story and was looking forward to this because it looked well-made, but woof. Because it would have to get SO much better to be worth continuing with. See my post a page back, but in the second episode (I think?) they introduce another character/storyline that isn't so unbearably dull. If you have no interest in seeing it through after episode 3 or so I would just give it a pass.
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Jan 3, 2020 17:39
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Gravy Jones posted:As well as season length, you also have the flow of individual episodes having to be structured around ad breaks and (sometimes more significantly) the entire season structured around sweep weeks (which I don't think are even a thing any more). These both really date older network shows when you go back and binge them. It's not as bigger issue for the sort of shows that tend to fall into some kind of repetitive structure anyway (sitcoms etc), but in something that is supposed to be one long serialised narrative it really fucks with the flow of things. Yeah, that was the other biggest standout when re-watching Lost. The commercial breaks were made obvious by having some sort of ominous sting or cliffhanger almost every single time and it gets repetitive having that happen 2-3 times per episode.
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Jan 3, 2020 18:48
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I loved LOST when it first aired and was even down with the ending at the time. I've been curious to go back to it for a few years now but I have a hard time watching TV by myself and I don't think I can convince my wife to take that journey with me. Also since someone mentioned it, I secretly love the final episode of GoT but mostly because I came away from it with a much different interpretation than what the show writers intended. (vague spoilers) A shitload of people suffered and died, but the hereditary powers that perpetuated the conflict remained largely intact, and the most unequivocally good and well-liked (within the fiction) character was sent up the river because it was the easiest political move for everyone else. It's so cynical and I wish other people saw it the way that I do.
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Jan 3, 2020 20:17
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C-Euro posted:It's so cynical and I wish other people saw it the way that I do. I think everyone sees it that way.
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Jan 4, 2020 01:20
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Been catching up on recommendations from this thread Patriot is good but very, very slow so you have to sorta be on the wavelength of this type of agonizing, deadpan humor to have it click
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Jan 4, 2020 21:14
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Interesting, I never once thought of Patriot as slow and I watched it twice, but I understand what you mean as it's not an action adventure but is a relentlessly sad, dark comedy/tragedy/drama/character study sort of thing that's hard to describe. It's definitely one of my all time favorite series and it's a shame that it was cancelled.
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Jan 4, 2020 23:08
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I've been watching Messiah and it's pretty interesting although I suspect it may be a bit slow for people not from a religious background. The show can't seem to decide how it wants to portray the US. The US is clearly the Roman Empire analogue in this story but so far the writers have been pretty milquetoast on depicting realistic imperial brutality.
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Jan 5, 2020 03:08
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Anybody watching this Dracula?
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Jan 5, 2020 05:06
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clown shoes posted:Anybody watching this Dracula? I just asked about it in another thread. So far everything I've read is bad but that doesn't always mean it is bad. The trailer is interesting.
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Jan 5, 2020 06:08
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It's from the same team that made the BBC Sherlock show. So I'm avoiding it.
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Jan 5, 2020 06:24
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I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention Lost in Space. Both seasons have been enjoyable.
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Jan 5, 2020 08:50
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clown shoes posted:Anybody watching this Dracula? I've watched it for a couple of minutes but not enough to say anything about it. It looked ok and the acting definitely wasn't bad from what I saw, I guess. I think I'm not interested in a Dracula unless they overhaul the premise somehow, it's been done to death in so many ways.
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Jan 5, 2020 11:42
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Shrimpy posted:I'm surprised I haven't seen anyone mention Lost in Space. Both seasons have been enjoyable. I don't feel like there's much of anything to be said about it; both seasons have been enjoyable enough though every episode is extremely rote. It's well produced but also just on the right side of becoming bland. I mean, I like it enough to watch it? Also they handled the most annoying character far better in season 2 than in season 1, so that's a plus. A few people have recommended You to me (on Netflix) but I find the premise decidedly off-putting: Anyone watched it?
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Jan 5, 2020 14:45
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Wallet posted:I don't feel like there's much of anything to be said about it; both seasons have been enjoyable enough though every episode is extremely rote. It's well produced but also just on the right side of becoming bland. I mean, I like it enough to watch it? Also they handled the most annoying character far better in season 2 than in season 1, so that's a plus. Not this guy, i can't stomach stalker shows or movies, it's vile. I'd rather watch lawyer shows, my least fav genre.
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Jan 5, 2020 15:12
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Yes, it's a very trashy show about a stalker told from his perspective and it rules. They do a good job of subverting your expectations episode to episode, Joe is never framed as anything but a crazy person but it's easy to like him since you get his internal monologues. He's good at manipulating people, the audience included. e:. Half of the fun is watching the situation spiral out of control and seeing how the characters navigate around it. Most of the time I'm hoping that someone calls Joe on his poo poo and he gets caught. ONE YEAR LATER fucked around with this message at 15:18 on Jan 5, 2020 |
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Jan 5, 2020 15:13
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The Circle is exactly how everyone described it. Trashy, captivating, and the most modern reality show.
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Jan 6, 2020 03:42
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clown shoes posted:Anybody watching this Dracula? I liked the first episode. They stick enough to the book to trick you into thinking they are going with the book (they don’t). I haven’t watched the other 2, but from the reviews episode 1 is good, episode 2 is ok, and episode 3 is bad. I love the book and I liked the first episode enough not to listen to the warnings of about how bad it gets. So planning to watch the rest later this week (only 3 more episodes of The Expanse to go first).
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Jan 6, 2020 14:26
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Since the last season of Preacher came to Hulu, I've finished it up. I liked it well enough, it was never going to be 100% like the book (for good or bad) but I'm sad they didn't include the scene where Cassidy takes like three days to figure out that the sun sets him on fire. on the flip side of the coin, the show has the single best musical drop ever, when God fucks off from Heaven and a montage of his hedonism is set to Holiday Road.
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Jan 7, 2020 06:33
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Flight Bisque posted:Since the last season of Preacher came to Hulu, I've finished it up. The first half of that season is so genuinely weird. The lead three characters spend most of it repeatedly self-sabotaging themselves while walking in literal circles, two episodes are told completely out of order without much indication that they're doing that, there are multiple dream sequence fakeouts that it's easy to mistake for the actual plot because of the aforementioned out of order story telling. I get that it's trying to say something about characters refusing to learn from their mistakes, and how sometimes it's better to give up rather than double down on bad choices, but it's just so deeply miserable and confusing.
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Jan 7, 2020 08:44
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Ishamael posted:I tried watching The Witcher and I am definitely disappointed. I haven't played the games or read the books, but the production value looked high and I have heard non-stop praise for it from the internet crowd. Completely agree. I tried watching it myself and got to episode 5. It does not get better, at all. In fact, to me it got worse.
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Jan 7, 2020 10:59
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I finished The Mandalorian and I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I though I would at first Yes, it is like watching a CRPG, but is like watching a really good one, made into a good cinematic experience. A CRPG inspired on "Lone Wolf and Cub", kinda minimalistic, with few characters and no sideplots, amazing visuals, good atmosphere. Which was probably what they wanted it to be. Is not some masterpiece but it was really fun to watch. By far much better than anything star wars that I watched ion the past years (but I havent watched the last movie yet)
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Jan 7, 2020 12:10
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I just finished Witcher and really enjoyed it. Zero reverence for the source material or fantasy as a genre, but I liked this setting. Wrapped up very quickly though, I was on episode 8 and figured there were 2 episodes to go, but nope.
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Jan 7, 2020 12:45
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Gomorra S4 is some cold poo poo once again. Great show, but don't expect a single glimpse of human decency.
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Jan 7, 2020 13:45
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Klaaz posted:Gomorra S4 is some cold poo poo once again. Great show, but don't expect a single glimpse of human decency. It was good but is really sad all the best characters are gone
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Jan 7, 2020 15:07
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I'd somehow missed that a second season of Britannia had come out in November. Whatever gripes I had about the first season: this one is pretty great! They really leaned into the weird and the comical, focusing more on the fantasy than the historical setting or intrigue, and it works. Great performances as well, and very clever use of music. Really enjoyable tv.
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Jan 7, 2020 21:52
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Elias_Maluco posted:I finished The Mandalorian and I actually enjoyed it a lot more than I though I would at first Good/bad news  You are right about it feeling minimalistic in a good way though, I think the finale was 45 minutes and every other episode was in that 35-40 minute sweet spot. Not sure there's a lot of prestige/prestige-like TV with episodes that short in recent years.
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Jan 7, 2020 21:58
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C-Euro posted:Good/bad news One of the nice things about the run time was that it's such a dense show it felt like it was longer, but in a good way.
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Jan 7, 2020 22:16
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Iron Crowned posted:One of the nice things about the run time was that it's such a dense show it felt like it was longer, but in a good way. Yeah, for me too About the new movies, I kinda liked the first one, even though it felt strangely like a remake of A New Hope set in some alternate dimension or something, more than it felt like a sequel to the original trilogy. But then the second was pretty meh, so for the last my expectations are pretty low (also because most reviews I saw were negative). Ill watch anyway, but only when it comes to streaming Elias_Maluco fucked around with this message at 22:29 on Jan 7, 2020 |
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Jan 7, 2020 22:26
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Meatgrinder posted:I'd somehow missed that a second season of Britannia had come out in November. Whatever gripes I had about the first season: this one is pretty great! They really leaned into the weird and the comical, focusing more on the fantasy than the historical setting or intrigue, and it works. Great performances as well, and very clever use of music. Really enjoyable tv. I thought the first season was amazingly awful but I'm interested in if they can actually turn it around. Season 2 doesn't seem to be on Prime, though, despite the internet thinking it's supposed to be.
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Jan 7, 2020 23:29
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Wallet posted:I thought the first season was amazingly awful but I'm interested in if they can actually turn it around. Season 2 doesn't seem to be on Prime, though, despite the internet thinking it's supposed to be. They struck a good tone with this one and stuck with it. I definitely had more fun watching it than the first one.
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Jan 8, 2020 00:03
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