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Bruceski
Aug 21, 2007

The tools of a hero mean nothing without a solid core.

nate fisher posted:

Remember all the American flags everywhere during the weeks after? It was easier to find toilet paper in March 2020 than it was to find a flag after 9/11. Most Americans had a false sense of unity that later got destroyed by our misguided invasion of Iraq.

Up here in Portland whatever equivalent of the Proud Boys we had at the time tried to incite violence against "Muslims" (read: brown people) with a whole bunch of vitriol-filled flyers. Our rally in response in support of our neighbors was derailed and became purely anti-Bush anti-war at some time between "we should do this" and it actually happening that weekend. Those of us who tried to bring it up were told "this is more important" and other dismissal.

So my memory of "unity" is maybe a bit different.

Bruceski fucked around with this message at 01:12 on Jan 13, 2021

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Escobarbarian
Jun 18, 2004


Grimey Drawer

Simone Magus posted:

Is there not a thread for Search Party? This show loving owns so hard

M A K E
O N E

...of SCIENCE!
Apr 26, 2008

by Fluffdaddy
The one thing about now that is an unambiguous improvement over then is how easy it was for mainstream news coverage to completely ignore all the massive anti-war protests that were occurring in the lead up to the invasion of Iraq whereas now thanks to social media no matter how much they try to ignore and downplay things like the BLM protests everyone is aware of them and the people participating in or supporting them know that they're not alone and not crazy.

Simone Magus
Sep 30, 2020

by VideoGames

Escobarbarian posted:

M A K E
O N E

Settle down, I was just surprised there wasn't a thread since it's 3 seasons deep and there's a new season. I thought I must have missed it

Open Source Idiom
Jan 4, 2013

Simone Magus posted:

Is there not a thread for Search Party? This show loving owns so hard

No thread, but show owns.

pentyne
Nov 7, 2012
I can't remember how long ago I started but I finally managed to drag myself through the last season of Grimm.

Overall? Maybe, just barely a 7/10 being very generous to the back 1/2 of the series. You really do have to just quit thinking about how Portland is basically the center of the magical world in terms of crime and significance of events. It's like how the town in Murder She Wrote had a murder rate 100x the national average.

Seasons 1/2 are excellent casual serial network fantasy. It's not offering anything complicated or deep and there are more then a few god awful lines in most episodes but it's got an overall charm and wonder to it. Early on there's a real fun mystery feel as the viewer and cast discover the secrets of the monster(Wesen) society. There's obviously tons of references to European folklore and myths, much later on they get into things like the Chupacabra, but the major bulk of it is Western European themed folklore.

The show went off the rails pretty hard since the writers didn't really plan out their meta plot; one of the frequently mentioned macguffins across multiple early seasons just stops being talked about at one point and never appears again. Some characters seem like they were the writers/favorites because they just get shoehorned back into the plot with almost 0 foreshadowing. Very often there are scenes that exist to give them more to do, like building up a side plot, that are completely forgotten about within a few episodes.

By the 20x time Nick goes to ask his Wesen friends about some mysterious event and they dramatically look at each other and say "no, it couldn't be, that's impossible" before finding a book that explains in great detail what the monster of the week is you've definitely abandoned the hope the show is going to magically improve.

The cast is the only reason to stick with it. The chemistry of Nick, Hank, Wu, Renard, Monroe, Rosalee, and somewhat Juliette are what keep the show engaging. Juliette suffers from some very poor writing and directing because I've seen that actress in Supergirl as Lois Lane and she does a much better job. Claire Coffee is pretty inconsistent which I got the impression was the writing because when she had to act well she could, but there were some lines that just couldn't be made good.

I did benefit from having watched most of Grimm when it aired, so I was familiar enough with season 1-4 and the first chunk of 5 to have it on in the background and not be missing any details. The rest of S5 and S6 were new for me and just kind of baffling how many times its felt like the writing was the equivalent was "gently caress it, scripts are due"

Now I deserve to finish up a better show, so its on to Vikings, which I stopped watching after the sack of Paris episodes.

pentyne fucked around with this message at 04:36 on Jan 13, 2021

Mokelumne Trekka
Nov 22, 2015

Soon.

I might watch Six Feet Under knowing nothing other than it's about a family who run a funeral parlor. I assume there will be stuff about death. Curious how people feel about the show in this fine year of 2021 - has it held up?

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

I re-watched it like 5 years ago and still like it a lot. There's a dip in quality in season 3 or 4 but it's still one of the best finales. It's from Alan Ball, the guy that wrote American Beauty and it has some similar themes as that. Ignore his work with True Blood.

Open Source Idiom
Jan 4, 2013

Mokelumne Trekka posted:

I might watch Six Feet Under knowing nothing other than it's about a family who run a funeral parlor. I assume there will be stuff about death. Curious how people feel about the show in this fine year of 2021 - has it held up?

It's still good.

It's one of those chewier HBO series that requires audiences to actively engage with the show (The Sopranos, The Wire) rather than just being melodrama (True Blood, Game of Thrones) -- though, I think, the quotidian conflicts make it easier to mistake it for the latter. Certainly, I remember there being a lot of misreads concerning some of the leads, particularly those involved in the show's central romantic arc.

There are some excellent performances from all the regulars, particularly from Michael C. Hall, Frances Conroy and Lilli Taylor. The show was also responsible for giving early career boosts to Ben Foster, Justina Machado, Rainn Wilson, Chris Messina, David Hornsby... the cast is stacked, basically.

Two things to note: the show is very tough going at times, particularly the fourth season, which is mean as poo poo, and features an hour of television that was absolutely designed to be as gruelling as possible to watch. It's attempting to do something with this, but it's not a chill watch.

The other is the way the show's sexual mores have dated; the way the cast express curiosity about threesomes etc. can occasionally come across as more quaint than intended, though I think the show largely handles it better than you'd expect. The show's also remarkably reluctant to show buttsex, despite featuring several queer regulars in landmark roles (it happens once, in a five second shot, captured as a reflection on a darkened window pain in the corner of the screen). You get the sense there were pretty consistent battles between the network and the show regarding content (though not as nearly as bad as the kind of stuff Starz was trying to pull over a decade later).

Oasx
Oct 11, 2006

Freshly Squeezed

pentyne posted:

I can't remember how long ago I started but I finally managed to drag myself through the last season of Grimm.

I 100% agree. I really liked it when it first started airing, but then it started falling apart.

Open Source Idiom
Jan 4, 2013
:siren:REMINDER:siren:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ObU602WwB6c

Servant! Season 2! This weekend!

Show owns! :siren:

Azhais
Feb 5, 2007
Switchblade Switcharoo
Mods, this man is endorsing an M Night Shyamalan production

Simone Magus
Sep 30, 2020

by VideoGames

Azhais posted:

Mods, this man is endorsing an M Night Shyamalan production

Devil was pretty good

MiddleOne
Feb 17, 2011

Simone Magus posted:

Devil was pretty good

Is that the one with the elevator...?

isaboo
Nov 11, 2002

Muay Buok
ขอให้โชคดี
halfway through S1 of Search Party and yes this is good stuff thanks thread

Open Source Idiom
Jan 4, 2013

isaboo posted:

halfway through S1 of Search Party and yes this is good stuff thanks thread

Only gets better and better.

I think it's funny how both of Michael Showalter's comic thrillers (Search Party being more comic than thriller, In The Dark more thriller than comic) manage to naturally segue into a different kind of thriller plot with each season. It's pretty impressive.

Simone Magus
Sep 30, 2020

by VideoGames

MiddleOne posted:

Is that the one with the elevator...?

Yeah, a blatant ripoff of the Japanese film Hellevator: the Bottled Fools but it was pretty good

Talking of which, Alice in Borderland is pretty good too

Chairman Capone
Dec 17, 2008

I watched I think the first two seasons of Grimm when they aired and liked it for what it was. Though I was also upset that NBC didn't go with 17th Precinct instead.

Also kind of funny that Grimm and Once Upon a Time clearly both cribbed from Fables, which I was upset about at the time but in retrospect very thankful it prevented a Fables adaptation from happening. Though I did like the Telltale game spinoff.

AARD VARKMAN
May 17, 1993

JollyBoyJohn posted:

Finally sat down and watched the first episode of the Sopranos after realising its on Sky Box Sets. Always wanted to but never had it on a service i own.

Why did no-one tell me this is basically Goodfellas the show, loved the music choices, love the new jersey accents. Thoroughly looking forward to watching more!

all right you convinced me. I've always been meaning to try it. Today is the day :haibrow:

DOPE FIEND KILLA G
Jun 4, 2011

happy birthday to julia louis-dreyfus. *squints closer* sixty!?! what the hell

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

All billionaires do that thing where you get blood transfusions from young men to keep rejuvenated

pentyne
Nov 7, 2012

Mu Zeta posted:

All billionaires do that thing where you get blood transfusions from young men to keep rejuvenated

logic doesn't track because she looks better now then when she was on seinfeld.

similar to Gillian Anderson some women just age into jaw dropping attractiveness.

Toast King
Jun 22, 2007

I'm excited to see where Search Party S3 and now S4 go. I only watched it back when season 2 was just airing, there was such a big gap between that and season 3 that I just assumed it might have been cancelled. Sounds like it's time for a rewatch so I can remember everything that's happened again.

oh jay
Oct 15, 2012

pentyne posted:

logic doesn't track because she looks better now then when she was on seinfeld.

similar to Gillian Anderson some women just age into jaw dropping attractiveness.

Early 90s hair looked rough. She already started looking younger in season 8 and 9 when she started doing it differently.

TV Zombie
Sep 6, 2011

Burying all the trauma from past nights
Burying my anger in the past

how does the basketball net help with Lupin's escape from prison?

Parakeet vs. Phone
Nov 6, 2009

TV Zombie posted:

how does the basketball net help with Lupin's escape from prison?

He uses it to make a harness around himself to fake the hanging. He tied the noose into it and it spread the weight and force out across his shoulders and back. I think it was in some Elementary/Sherlock Holmes thing too, which is why I recognized it.

Vanderdeath
Oct 1, 2005

I will confess,
I love this cultured hell that tests my youth.



pentyne posted:

logic doesn't track because she looks better now then when she was on seinfeld.

similar to Gillian Anderson some women just age into jaw dropping attractiveness.

I call this the Lucy Lawless effect. It's extremely powerful.

Lurdiak
Feb 26, 2006

I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do.


I'm sure no cosmetic surgery was involved.

Mu Zeta
Oct 17, 2002

Me crush ass to dust

That's a gamble too. Just look at Meg Ryan and Renee Zelwegger.

i still think it's the young boy vampire scheme.

Open Source Idiom
Jan 4, 2013
Search Party report!

Scary! Weirdly sexy!

Waaaaay fewer jokes than you'd expect, but there's a killer freaky joke involving a new set that's weirder than anything you've seen on the show before.

Edit: Episode Two:

What the gently caress is happening in this show?

Is Drew dating and adult child?

Edit: Episode Three:

AAAH! Ann Dowd!

AAAH! Ann Dowd dressed as little red riding hood talking to a twink who's dressed up as Susan Sarandon Grandma Susan Sarandon.


This poo poo's wild.

Open Source Idiom fucked around with this message at 15:41 on Jan 14, 2021

DOPE FIEND KILLA G
Jun 4, 2011

i really need to watch that, always been a fan of alia

Simone Magus
Sep 30, 2020

by VideoGames
Wait, season 4 of Search Party dropped all at once??? I thought it was premiering weekly aaaaaaaaaaaaAAAAAAAA :supaburn:

Khanstant
Apr 5, 2007
Started 12 Monkeys Tv show version and it was pretty good at the start... but in one the later episodes when I thought they'd start to wrap up mysteries and give the juicy exposition, they instead started setting up more stuff. Some of it very open-ended, then I realized it had four freaking seasons. When I thought it was just the one season I was like "hmm how are they going to stretch the movies into a whole season" but now I'm getting a bit weary. Giving me Travellers vibes, cool time-travel story up until they to go overboard with the time-travel-present/future politics. They also on the surface so far seem to be treading a lot of the same ground like the whole faction sends agents into the past to stop a thing but guess what they're actually part of the problem or get caught up with the people sent back before who are now all bitter and want the future to be lovely instead of changed for better.

Is 12 Monkeys a worthwhile ride? I peeked ahead at the episode descriptions of the next seasons and I don't know if the writer for the summaries is just a cornball or what but they really give this impression of extremely drawn-out mystery reveal. Descriptions like:
"Will Cole and Cassie’s journey to 1957 save the time stream and preserve reality? Plus: At last, Titan City."

"In the season finale, sacrifices are made, time travel is turned on its head and The Witness is revealed."

"In order to track the Witness, the gang must travel to the most outrageous era yet: The 1980s."

"Former friends, now enemies, race to find the Witness in 1904. And, at last, he reveals his face."

"There’s plot twists – and then there’s this twist. The final battle with the Witness has begun."

"Team Splinter goes back in time to the wild, wild frontier in search of a weapon to destroy the Witness."

Like drat, haven't even gotten to any of this and already feel a bit dragged along. My best guess from seeing most of season 1 is that the Witness is either somehow just Cole or he and Cassie rawdog at some point and then it's doctor who and some evil time travel organization steals their baby and makes it into Evil Time Travel Boy. Then again, for a long while I thought Cassie and the blonde scientist with a fake german accent were the same person since it was the same actress but they're actually different people. Still, I am already prepared for a Futurama scenario where Cole is his own grandpa or whatever.

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.

12 Monkeys is fantastic.

X-O
Apr 28, 2002

Long Live The King!

12 Monkeys is great and has possibly the most satisfying ending/tying up of arcs of any similar kind of genre show I've ever watched.

CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK
Sep 11, 2001



12 monkeys is a great show.

Khanstant posted:

Then again, for a long while I thought Cassie and the blonde scientist with a fake german accent were the same person since it was the same actress but they're actually different people

:psyduck:

Also that's her real accent so even more :psyduck:

Sumo
Jun 17, 2005

People keep saying that, but I'm with Khanstant.

I had to stop somewhere around the beginning of S3. All of the time travel faction back-and-forth and red leaves mystery box stuff just felt like such a slog.

Like, I liked it, but I absolutely did not feel any burning desire to see where it kept going.

Edit: maybe I just needed some time away from it. I'm having the same problem with TVIV favorite The Expanse so maybe I just have bad taste

Sumo fucked around with this message at 19:14 on Jan 14, 2021

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!
Give 12M a chance, it's top-tier time travel television.


And you'll have the time of your life.

Khanstant
Apr 5, 2007
I'll at least finish this season out, but when Cole's best friend from Prison Break went into the past with the goal to actively towards creating a horrible future for his son I was just like "noooo" go away dude. Probably could've also spaced the eps out more. I guess I just wasn't expecting it to be like "general time travel adventures" in the middle part of 12 Monkeys but if it all comes together in the end in a satisfying way I'll give it more time. I was enjoying it up until I realized how much more there was to go.

River Song was a cool idea and I can't blame them for wanting to do their own version but I'm gonna need to care more about them for it to work and they haven't gotten to really establishing their love yet outside just being two people reconnecting over time over crazy trauma drama.

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CAPTAIN CAPSLOCK
Sep 11, 2001



Khanstant posted:

I'll at least finish this season out, but when Cole's best friend from Prison Break went into the past with the goal to actively towards creating a horrible future for his son I was just like "noooo" go away dude.

That poo poo was the worst and Ramsey was the biggest megafucker in all of history :colbert:

Also Kirk Acevedo was in Oz not Prison Break.

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