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Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


The Kreese stuff isn't great but I can't help but love it whenever Martin Kove does that poo poo eating grin

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Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


I think the new Stand has been alright so far, like I don't mind the flashback stuff because that's just standard prestige TV tropes at this point, but it clearly should not have been a miniseries.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Big Mean Jerk posted:

Now that Alex’s actor is a sex pest and Bobbie hasn’t had much to do this season, I nominate Amos for Best Expanse Character This Season Thus Far.

I was a little iffy on the premise of the Roci crew being so split up this season, but they’ve really made it work. The only plot I don’t really care about is Naomi’s, but that’s mostly because I can’t stand her son or Marco. Drummer seems a little underutilized as well, but that’s a tiny complaint and it looks like she’s about to have her plot folded into the larger arc of the season.

I'll go on record saying that one of the biggest mistakes this show ever made was the casting of Marco Inaros. That guy is loving terrible for the importance that his character has. Makes me wish they just replaced him with Anderson Dawes and cut the whole Naomi's son bit. There's no world in which I believe people would be rallying behind this loving loser.

Hakkesshu fucked around with this message at 14:15 on Jan 12, 2021

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


The new season of Disenchantment is pretty good! I don't think anyone is going to consider it the new Futurama - a lot of the jokes are still very hit or miss and the characterizations just aren't its strong suit, but it's gotten way funnier at least and it looks great. I'd be surprised if this wasn't the final season though, since no one seems to be watching it.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


muscles like this! posted:

Amazon has announced Invincible will premiere March 26th. Standard Amazon release schedule, three episodes to start, weekly after.

I still don't know what they are expecting to happen with this show. Surely it's just gonna get canned immediately.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Azhais posted:

Why's that?

Because adult-focused dramatic animation rarely ever does well in the west. And they haven't really been showing off what the show actually is (namely the gore) so I can imagine a lot of people being blindsided by that. Maybe they're banking on some The Boys crossover appeal but I doubt it's going to happen. It's not like the comic even has a huge fanbase.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Yeah Invincible is ostensibly a teen comic in the way a lot of 90s comics like Spawn were teen comics.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


It looks fine, I'm more interested in it now that Whedon is gone.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


We never dissected anything in Danish schools and I don't think it would be particularly useful for anyone to go through that exercise.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


IRQ posted:

Final Space is getting close to overcoming my assumption that it was a Rick and Morty knockoff. I don't even dislike that show, just didn't want the Kirkland signature brand Rick or whatever. So it's definitely not that?

It's more of a seralized kinda thing, there's an overarching plot. It's a decent show, and very pretty, the main problem is just that the main character is absolutely insufferable and it isn't actually very funny when it wants to be.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


muscles like this! posted:

I was thinking today about how I get annoyed when a show I've been liking gets retooled halfway through its first season/between first and second. So I was wondering, has there been a show where being retooled actually made it better? The examples I can think of are all worse.

Parks & Rec?

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


I have been watching The Office for the first time and I have no idea what the intro for that show wants to convey. The music is bad and doesn’t fit and the random clips from the show don’t tell you anything about the characters or the tone of the show. IDK, it just stands out to me as a particularly lazy and generic intro.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Chris James 2 posted:

It's A Sin, Russell T Davies' new miniseries about a group of friends living during the AIDS crisis, is on HBO Max right now

It's very good and powerful. I'd say even better than Years And Years

Not sure what to take from this since I thought Years and Years was unbelievably terrible. At least he's going for a very serious topic this time so I assume his worst tendencies are kept in check.

Hakkesshu fucked around with this message at 19:07 on Feb 21, 2021

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Article says he's EP so he has at least some involvement.

quote:

“I told them, ‘Look, I had, I had my shot. Godspeed, take it in whatever direction you want,’” he said

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


I like this season but then I liked the last season too. It's a show purely about mood, basically nothing happens in an episode other than Ian McShane going to see some weird new god and doing his Ian McShane schtick, and also there are scenes with Ricky Whittle. Oh that episode focusing on Dead Wife was good.

I'm honestly shocked it got a third season with these production values because surely no one is watching it. It's a shame they could never keep any actors around for completely avoidable reasons. I will not be surprised or upset when it is cancelled.

Hakkesshu fucked around with this message at 14:39 on Mar 13, 2021

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Isn't there some weird Tolkien estate rights situation where they can set it in Middle-Earth, but they can't use any established characters or stories for adaptation? So it can't be about the ring forging, I think. I'm sure they will find some way to finagle it in there regardless.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Yeah, that’s the thing, I don’t know that there is anything specific implied with that Kumail tweet, just maybe stop pinning a lot of hopes and assumptions onto people you will never know outside of brief instances of media.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Season 4 is so weirdly ambitious and it keeps up the density of the jokes, it's definitely worth watching, and almost at the level of season 3 in my opinion. Unfortunately, the fact that they could never get the scheduling right really does hurt it, and the obviously green screened actors is legitimately one of the most distracting things I can remember seeing in a show.

As has been said, season 5 has almost no redeeming qualities, and the green screening/obviously ADR'ed lines are even worse than in season 4. I do like the actual ending, though.

Hakkesshu fucked around with this message at 17:13 on Apr 1, 2021

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


LionArcher posted:

Watching the unnaturals on Netflix. Shows kind of nuts. Good cast. 2 episodes in glad it’s apparently been renewed.

This does not appear to be a show that exists

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


What the heck is this just a show based on Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Holy poo poo, I never expected Warrior to get another season, that's a great surprise. Everyone should watch that show, it's fantastic.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


The point has been made before about how some rich black creators are using the plights of the lower classes as a form of exploitation media that appeals to white people more than anything, in order to market themselves as being hugely progressive. When Judas and the Black Messiah, also by black creators, came out there was a similar article (I think from the same author, actually), about how it’s using black history as essentially a series of aesthetic vignettes without getting at the root of the problem, and mainly being about black suffering without much point to it other than to downplay the real history in favour of turning it into a pop culture prop, essentially.

It calls to mind the reasons why Dave Chappelle originally ended Chappelle’s Show. I cannot speak to how big of an issue this is in general, but I certainly understand why you wouldn’t want high profile black stories to just be about suffering and endless racism, especially when real trauma and white supremacy is still happening in the real world right now and you’re using that imagery to puff up your story about how the devil is racist.

I don’t know that I agree that you should not tell these kinds of stories as part of a larger black oeuvre, but I can understand how frustrating it is when there’s essentially an entire genre that thrives in it. It’s a difficult issue to tackle because I’m positive that something like Them will resonate with many black people regardless, and I don’t think there is anything wrong with that. It certainly makes me more interested in actually checking the show out with a very critical mind going in.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Yes, I also don’t agree that it doesn’t induce empathy. But so much of this problem is rooted in the insane mess that is the current discourse landscape so it is bound to get big punches like that thrown at it.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


You know what show is good, The fuckin' Knick. I recently started it and it's just some next level poo poo, obvious content warning if you don't like a lot of very explicit surgery but man this show has given me Deadwood vibes in the way that like no other show since then has.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Open Source Idiom posted:

Dude, I know I said it last night, but The Nevers just had a loving awesome action scene, and you could a lot worse to watch it besides. It's really loving enjoyable.

And of course there's no loving video of it available online LOL.

The Nevers is pretty decent but still full of extremely cringey Whedon-esque dialogue. I hope the show gets the chance to become its own thing now that he got kicked off it.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


It's not a great show from a writing standpoint, but I do have to get Netflix props for improving their productions a lot, it looks really good and is actually really well-directed compared to absolute drek like Cursed from last year or the incredibly cheap look of Witcher.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


If you want a show about conspiracies, fuckin Counterpart. It's a prime dad show I think.

Edit: Also it's very old at this point, but Rubicon is an underrated gem. Both shows were cancelled before their time but they do have mostly proper endings.

Hakkesshu fucked around with this message at 15:01 on May 2, 2021

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Everything about the Nevers is pretty good except for the dialogue. It really depends on your tolerance for characters who are 80% quips.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


I know Graham Linehan sucks rear end but gently caress is Father Ted not on there

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Michael is terrible and keeps being terrible, but I am still surprised by how well that show holds up having never watched it before, and also how prescient it is in a lot of ways. There are definitely a lot of Trumpisms in that character, and also it shows just how blatantly and nakedly Corporate just doesn't care about people and how it continually ruins lives. The little arc about the mom & pop paper company shutting down because of their corporate espionage was heartbreaking to watch, and it was SUCH a small aside. That's the kind of stuff that elevates it for the modern day, I think.

When it gets into big weddings and babies and and has to have its sugary sweet sappy moments it's less tolerable for me at least.

Hakkesshu fucked around with this message at 17:07 on May 8, 2021

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


The latest episode of The Nevers had an interesting twist where it is revealed that everything is happening because of aliens from the future and like half the episode took place in post-apocalyptic London with an XCOM style paramilitary squad

I wish the show was better, because it's got so many neat ideas, I just don't think much of it is very well-executed. Hopefully it can survive beyond Whedon, because he wasn't credited on this and it was probably the best episode.

Edit: Apparently that was the half-season finale and we aren't getting more of it for a while, great.

Hakkesshu fucked around with this message at 20:38 on May 17, 2021

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Musk showing up in Rick & Morty and them making a bunch of really lame Elon Tusk jokes is definitely the nadir of that show (so far)

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Slamhound posted:

The Wire is absolutely copaganda and the entire point is that individual cops can’t be held responsible for the system and when individual cops are at fault the you have to trust the system.

When Freddie Gray was murdered by Baltimore police, David Simon told rioters to go home.

gently caress The Wire.



Edit for clarification: The Wire exists in the West Wing universe.

I have no idea how you can watch that show and think that at any point it says that you have to trust the system

Edit: I think there's a conversation to be had about whether or not it's interested in any kind of solution, and whether or not every cop inside the system is culpable, but comparing it to the West Wing is way off the mark.

Hakkesshu fucked around with this message at 15:11 on May 18, 2021

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Slamhound posted:

The cops are the system. How does that escape you? Does every cop have to be culpable before they’re considered bad?

Blaming “The System” is exactly how the cops who are the system excuse their murderous behavior.

I’m glad you realize The West Wing is poo poo, but it is absolutely in the same universe.

I'm not gonna argue about politics with you in this TVIV thread, but the show does not depict the system as anything less than completely busted, nor does it excuse the actions of any bad actors in there - the cops aren't the system, they are one part of it, and any good intentions in there are constantly quashed by how busted everything is, to the point where one of the main characters has to invent a serial killer to get anyone to care about actual murders. It's also worth noting the clear distinction between homicide detectives and beat cops, which is also something that is a core part of showing how busted the system is. No, it doesn't really suggest that abolition should be the ultimate goal, but calling it copaganda is absurd.

Nothing is solved by giving an impassioned speech and appealing to intelligence like what constantly happens in West Wing.

Hakkesshu fucked around with this message at 16:33 on May 18, 2021

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Slamhound posted:

Not wanting to argue about politics while taking about The Wire is absolute bullshit.

Claiming that The System is busted is a major feature of copaganda. It allows individual cops to do “whatever it takes” to get the job done. Things like inventing a serial killer. But it’s not their fault, it’s The System.

Differentiating between detectives and beat cops is another sleight-of-hand that allows you to both blames cops and absolve cops. Which of them is The System? Whichever one you want. Why would a clear distinction between the two even matter unless you’re trying to show that one of them is busted?

And as far as impassioned West Wing speeches is concerned, Hamsterdam is the liberal embodiment of “Let’s try this so long as it proves that we shouldn’t have tried this.”

An impassioned speech that comes to nothing.

????

How does it absolve anyone? I just said they are a part of the system, but the point is that all the different groups don't have the same agency within it. There are people trying to make it better, but they can't - is your point is that every single character should be portrayed as a murderous racist just because they are police? No one does whatever it takes to get the job done because the job isn't loving done by the end of that series. Hamsterdam doesn't fail because it's a bad idea, it fails because the system doesn't allow for its existence.

You are extremely good at making it seem as if you have not watched this show at all.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Sorting Algorithms posted:

And Simon being an embedded reporter with the police is where a lot of the stuff from his shows comes from and it absolutely colors his perceptions in favor of the cops. Its why both Homicide and The Wire have scenes about the police terrifying a criminal into thinking a copy machine is a lie detector so they can bully them into signing a confession and present it as a piece of police ingenuity and criminals being dumb, because its a thing that actually happened that he witnessed and walked away admiring.

Sure if you somehow watched that scene and thought "wow that was a cool thing to do" instead of "wow this is a hosed thing to do"

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Slamhound posted:

Why should David Simon stop tweeting?

The same reason you should stop posting

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Simone Magus posted:

Please don't tell me Dave Atell is a horrible right wing sex monster now, when I was 15 watching a dumb American get drunk in random cities was amazing to me

I can't say what his politics are, but he definitely seems like a guy who would absolutely be friends with Joe Rogan.

Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


Brace for more copaganda

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Hakkesshu
Nov 4, 2009


CBJSprague24 posted:

I said last year Jim and Pam were the only reason I made it through the first season, and they still make the series for me; when I picked it back up, Ryan became a favorite. The minor characters (Kevin, Stanley, Creed, Toby, Jan, the warehouse staff) don't get a lot of screen time, but are fun. Combining all of them and their communal struggle against Michael's idiocy (which is occasionally sympathetic, as I'm seeing right now in Money), Dwight (who I'm coming around on in S4) and, later, Andy (who should just shut the gently caress up) has given the show enough of a charm to keep going in spite of the negative.

That's still largely the case where I am now but, from where I sit, the show relies on the people above to be fun. Michael has his moments (buying Pam's painting when virtually everyone else panned her work and hanging it in the office was extremely :3:, most recently), but they're few and far between. Ryan's heel turn (shifting to narcissistic dickbag) ruins the character; it's like they wanted him to go on a revenge tour against Michael but, instead of finding hilarious ways to pants him (much in the way Jim/Pam do Dwight and, occasionally, Michael), they gave him stubble and made him constantly :smug:; effectively, he's Michael, but competent.

TL;DR- Jim/Pam and the fun supporting characters outweigh the annoying ones and help create a charm to the show.

I’m up to season 7 and there is definitely a precipitous drop in quality because it starts focusing a lot on Andy and his love interest. I have no idea if they are trying to recreate the Jim/Pam thing but it sucks rear end and every time they spend a significant amount of time on it it is absolute poison

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