20xx?
first watch on other blog
July 25, 2019
ordered Blu-ray, watch it all few weeks later.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Monday, July 15, 2019
Black Spot season 1 (2017)
2019.07.16
Two episodes in and I'm interested but I'm having trouble getting attached to it.
It's hitting a lot of the right notes, bits of X-Files, Twin Peaks, deep back story to learn as you go along, tough but wounded protagonist, oozing with atmosphere, etc.
Definitely enough here to keep going. The subtitles are giving me a bit of a disconnect, but when there's no dialogue you realize you could probably watch this with subtitles off and it would still be interesting.
Another problem is this is the third supernatural mystery tv series I'm watching in a row. I'm mixing up elements of Stranger Things and Dark and now this show. I probably should have watched a documentary or something first. Maybe I'll do that and come back later.
Two episodes in and I'm interested but I'm having trouble getting attached to it.
It's hitting a lot of the right notes, bits of X-Files, Twin Peaks, deep back story to learn as you go along, tough but wounded protagonist, oozing with atmosphere, etc.
Definitely enough here to keep going. The subtitles are giving me a bit of a disconnect, but when there's no dialogue you realize you could probably watch this with subtitles off and it would still be interesting.
Another problem is this is the third supernatural mystery tv series I'm watching in a row. I'm mixing up elements of Stranger Things and Dark and now this show. I probably should have watched a documentary or something first. Maybe I'll do that and come back later.
Monday, July 8, 2019
Stranger Things season 3 (2019)
After struggling to get through the show Dark, Stranger Things is like going back to an earlier time where everything is simple and makes sense. I'm somewhat embarrassed to admit to myself that a little mindless entertainment at the end of the day is more practical than something that requires a 4D flowchart to understand.
This show has always been flirting with the line between sci-fi and fantasy, but having a Russian base underneath the town mall is a bit of a declaration. Even more fantastical and immersion breaking is all the present day self-awareness set in the 1980s.
It's a show about 2010s stories and politics, with a thin 1980s coat of paint. Not a 1980s story with some 2010s sensibilities. It was good enough but its wearing thin. I kind of hope with this trajectory they don't make a fourth, but from what I hear the income would make it inevitable.
This show has always been flirting with the line between sci-fi and fantasy, but having a Russian base underneath the town mall is a bit of a declaration. Even more fantastical and immersion breaking is all the present day self-awareness set in the 1980s.
It's a show about 2010s stories and politics, with a thin 1980s coat of paint. Not a 1980s story with some 2010s sensibilities. It was good enough but its wearing thin. I kind of hope with this trajectory they don't make a fourth, but from what I hear the income would make it inevitable.
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Dark season 1 (2017) & season 2 (2019)
2019.06.25
Started watching last night. This is the best dubbing job I've ever seen in my life (or are German and English just that similar?).
* spoilers *
First impressions are True Detective (creepy and possibly supernatural overtones, especially in the titles), Stranger Things (kids getting together to solve a mystery, kids can get lost and hurt), Lost (something behind a metal door, mysterious engine driving everything, time travel shenanigans).
I got as far as kid goes back to the past, and its a nice twist on time travel, as this kid is not old enough to have seen a lot of time travel stories (which essentially teach you what to do and not to do when you find yourself suddenly time travelling).
I can't tell yet if this story wants to be sci-fi or fantasy, but its heading for fantasy. There are way too many characters introduced way too quickly but I'm getting over it.
So far so good, will continue.
2019.06.26
According to Netflix I watched more episodes, but I think I was drifting in and out of sleep. Go back to 1986 episode. At least this show is not precious about the time travel, they have a very convenient montage of actors past and present playing the same characters. Its still not enough help to keep track of all these characters and subplots. It kind of feels like Lost with way too big a cast, but at least there they gave the stories some space to breathe, and always let you know who the main focus characters are.
I read the wiki summaries for the first 3 episodes, and every 4 words introduces a new character and relationship. I'd love to see the crazy 4D string and pin corkboard for this matrix. There probably is one, but I will avoid spoilers.
Giving it more time.
2019.07.12
Just finished watching Season 2.
* all the spoilers *
I should have seen it coming. Of course by the end you finally know who all the characters are, you know all the time loops, you've finally figure it out - and at the last minute they throw in a new dimension, with an all new character and technology. Of course that's how you end a story like this.
Is there going to be a third season? Not sure if its needed, but it could work. Two years between seasons, that's quite a wait. But what is time anyway.
2020.06.24
Almost one year later...
and I have rewatched.
And season three comes out exactly as was easter-egged in the show... on Juni 27. This Saturday.
I am so hopeful. We'll see.
Started watching last night. This is the best dubbing job I've ever seen in my life (or are German and English just that similar?).
* spoilers *
First impressions are True Detective (creepy and possibly supernatural overtones, especially in the titles), Stranger Things (kids getting together to solve a mystery, kids can get lost and hurt), Lost (something behind a metal door, mysterious engine driving everything, time travel shenanigans).
I got as far as kid goes back to the past, and its a nice twist on time travel, as this kid is not old enough to have seen a lot of time travel stories (which essentially teach you what to do and not to do when you find yourself suddenly time travelling).
I can't tell yet if this story wants to be sci-fi or fantasy, but its heading for fantasy. There are way too many characters introduced way too quickly but I'm getting over it.
So far so good, will continue.
2019.06.26
According to Netflix I watched more episodes, but I think I was drifting in and out of sleep. Go back to 1986 episode. At least this show is not precious about the time travel, they have a very convenient montage of actors past and present playing the same characters. Its still not enough help to keep track of all these characters and subplots. It kind of feels like Lost with way too big a cast, but at least there they gave the stories some space to breathe, and always let you know who the main focus characters are.
I read the wiki summaries for the first 3 episodes, and every 4 words introduces a new character and relationship. I'd love to see the crazy 4D string and pin corkboard for this matrix. There probably is one, but I will avoid spoilers.
Giving it more time.
2019.07.12
Just finished watching Season 2.
* all the spoilers *
I should have seen it coming. Of course by the end you finally know who all the characters are, you know all the time loops, you've finally figure it out - and at the last minute they throw in a new dimension, with an all new character and technology. Of course that's how you end a story like this.
Is there going to be a third season? Not sure if its needed, but it could work. Two years between seasons, that's quite a wait. But what is time anyway.
2020.06.24
Almost one year later...
and I have rewatched.
And season three comes out exactly as was easter-egged in the show... on Juni 27. This Saturday.
I am so hopeful. We'll see.
Tuesday, June 11, 2019
Good Omens (2019)
2019.06.12
Tried episode one last night, I just can't get into it.
I like the premise a lot (an angel and demon have spent so long on Earth that they have gone native and work together to thwart the end times) and the characters seem OK, and the acting and production is decent. Maybe I need to give it more time.
Tried episode one last night, I just can't get into it.
I like the premise a lot (an angel and demon have spent so long on Earth that they have gone native and work together to thwart the end times) and the characters seem OK, and the acting and production is decent. Maybe I need to give it more time.
Black Mirror season 5 (2019)
2019.06.12
Saw first episode of 5 last night. They are doubling down on the whole thinking they are smarter than you, and you need your baby food mashed extra fine and served with a tiny spoon. A 15 minute story (at best) is stretched out to an hour. And its not even a good story. I remember reading sci-fi in the 80s (which was written well before that) about redefining gender and relationship roles - this is really old (not cutting edge) territory for sci-fi.
Far worse, and there should be a name for this error, Black Mirror is mostly guilty of the sin of assuming A, then B, so let's jump right to W! as far as how technology works. If you assume something vaguely like the present, you can't start dropping in tech from decades from now (if ever) and still hold the present constant. If you allow for the episode's premise, that we have shared SimStim online and in real time, you're living in a different world than shown in the show. It would take years to develop that tech, and it would have long since permeated into the culture, instead of just showing up all of a sudden.
Black Mirror is written by people who don't understand technology and have no place trying to tell us Aesop's about it.
Saw first episode of 5 last night. They are doubling down on the whole thinking they are smarter than you, and you need your baby food mashed extra fine and served with a tiny spoon. A 15 minute story (at best) is stretched out to an hour. And its not even a good story. I remember reading sci-fi in the 80s (which was written well before that) about redefining gender and relationship roles - this is really old (not cutting edge) territory for sci-fi.
Far worse, and there should be a name for this error, Black Mirror is mostly guilty of the sin of assuming A, then B, so let's jump right to W! as far as how technology works. If you assume something vaguely like the present, you can't start dropping in tech from decades from now (if ever) and still hold the present constant. If you allow for the episode's premise, that we have shared SimStim online and in real time, you're living in a different world than shown in the show. It would take years to develop that tech, and it would have long since permeated into the culture, instead of just showing up all of a sudden.
Black Mirror is written by people who don't understand technology and have no place trying to tell us Aesop's about it.
Friday, June 7, 2019
I Am Mother (2019)
It's like a 15 minute episode of Black Mirror (i.e. Twilight Zone), but stretched out to 2 hours.
One of my definitions of disappointment is when the credits roll and I am thinking a dozen different more interesting story forks and endings I could have taken the story on. And they chose this one.
One of my definitions of disappointment is when the credits roll and I am thinking a dozen different more interesting story forks and endings I could have taken the story on. And they chose this one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)