A24 4,306 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 The Witcher Episode 1 Well, it's better than I expected. publicist 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Just watched it. It's not really *good*, but good enough for a Netflix production. The Witcher has a cool voice, it moves swiftly, the medieval sets are nice, some cool shots and the heavy video game aesthetic is at least appropriate here, as it is a video game. Still, all the big battles and set pieces feel very pixelish in movement and especially the artificial grading (that 20 years after LOTR feels like a parody) and the music is perfunctory and robotic (it seems to elude decisionmakers at Netflix that music can give a scene a poetic dimension that may enrich it). The casual slang in the dialogue isn't maybe the best idea for a different universe set in a kind of dark age, and the british and american accents do not match. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,306 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 57 minutes ago, publicist said: some cool shots Best shots were the landscape shots right before the battle (with golden sunlight shining over the hills). Can't find a JPG on the internet though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 In episode 2 there even is some real nature! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Apparently it's wobbly for the first few but finds its feet by epi 5. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmilson 7,260 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Considering the season is 8 episodes, so half of the season is bad and half is good? Okay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Actually the first few are supposed to be okay. I'll try and watch this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 Perfectly watchable but disappointing in the details...there's just nothing, no element (save for parts of the visual design) that makes you go 'wow', but for recent streaming standards it's good. The lack of good music in fantasy movies - at least on the level of JNH's Huntsman movies - continues to annoy me greatly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Holko 9,397 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 14 minutes ago, publicist said: Perfectly watchable but disappointing in the details...there's just nothing, no element (save for parts of the visual design) that makes you go 'wow', but for recent streaming standards it's good. I like the books and love the games, nothing in the trailers made me think I must watch this. Guess that impression was correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,306 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 My kid loves loves the games too and quite liked the first episode. It's not high literature but it's entertaining and fast. Those who don't mind watching Star Wars movies should have no reason to complain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 That's about right. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 I watched FX's & the BBC's A Christmas Carol. They said Fuck about a dozen times. They turned Scrooge into this irredeemable lecherous would be rapist. It was an interesting but bizzare take on the tale. After reading the book dozens of times I keep missing the dirty words and the horrifying backstory of Scrooge's evil father and the headmaster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUlyssesian 2,467 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 23 hours ago, publicist said: Perfectly watchable but disappointing in the details...there's just nothing, no element (save for parts of the visual design) that makes you go 'wow', but for recent streaming standards it's good. The lack of good music in fantasy movies - at least on the level of JNH's Huntsman movies - continues to annoy me greatly. The main theme and songs seem to have gone viral - specially Toss a coin to your witcher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 Of course they've gone viral, this is the Djawadi fandom generation. Any old modulated shite will be considered the second coming of soundtrack christ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 There's a song montage - half Bob Dylan, half minstrel song - that's a new Hanging Tree, or at least it's designed that way. My main complaint, and it feels like Dante's Inferno having to raise it again and again, is that apart from the 'pop' elements that underscore hardly *does* anything. It hovers there, there's no poetry, no dramatic scene shaping, it's just a waste of time for composers working for Netflix these days. It seems they are getting paid for avoiding writing real music for as long they can. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 What you mean is it's ambient wallpaper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 I lack your talent for brevity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheUlyssesian 2,467 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 There's an instance in Ep 6 when the main theme bursts forth. I thought it was dramatic and gave the scene energy. For what it is, the main theme is rather memorable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,251 Posted December 23, 2019 Share Posted December 23, 2019 It probably doesn’t help that Netflix is trying to strip rights away from composers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,042 Posted December 24, 2019 Author Share Posted December 24, 2019 Mr. Robot 4x12 whoami That was pretty dope, I enjoyed watching "our" Elliot go through the alt reality from the previous episode, and explaining little things like his dad's broken phone and the broken glass in Angela's apartment. But no explanation for the missing wallet? Pretty neat that this Elliot had his own "hidden partition" of FSociety dreams. Brutal murder at the end! Oh, and playing Mr Roboto over the opening was awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,042 Posted December 24, 2019 Author Share Posted December 24, 2019 Mr. Robot 4x13 Hello, Elliot A pretty good, pretty satisfying finale. I like that it focused on Elliot, and that it made it clear how the final reveals about him (the one from earlier in the season and the one in this episode) were clearly baked into the show from episode 1, and never changed, and that entire aspect was satisfying in every way and makes total sense. The only disappointment was therefore the.. I suppose ancillary story, what was actually thought of to be the main plot of the show - the entire war between fsociety and Whiterose. In the end, it almost seems like all of that (after 5/9) was not necessarily part of the original plan... it was all just entertainment to enjoy as what turned out to be the actual main story (Elliot's story) slowly bubbled along until that paid off. This means that all lingering questions (What happened during the missing 3 days on 5/9? What did Whiterose show Angela? What was the blue light Tyrell saw? What EXACTLY was Whiterose's machine supposed to do? What did she show her followers to get them to stick with her? What will the world be like after the redistribution of the Deus group's money?) simply have no answers at all, which as I am sitting here now is disappointing to me, but I think I won't feel quite the same way over time. I look forward to seeing if Sam Esmail will give any answers to some of these in interviews, and look forward even more into whatever his next show is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trent B 331 Posted December 25, 2019 Share Posted December 25, 2019 My wife and I just got done watching Star Trek Enterprise. She really liked it but liked Season 3 the most like I did. We both liked Season 4 quite a bit but Season 3 was the winner for us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmilson 7,260 Posted December 26, 2019 Share Posted December 26, 2019 Rick and Morty - Season 4 Less serialized than the previous season, the new batch of episodes is more stand-alone, which is no way a bad thing. The writers returned from their 2 year hiatus (!) with insane stories, that go from a bizarre premise and only become more and more surreal as they go on, like a literal descent into madness. It's basically my favorite kind of humour, so I like it. The scripts goes from dick / sex jokes to pop culture satires to surprisingly dark moments. That said, these first 5 episodes were more consistently funnier than the show have been in a long time. I had a stomach ache and was rolling on the floor with Rick going through several fascist realities and the wasp-like version of the family casually devouring Morty's teacher as he screams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay 37,042 Posted December 26, 2019 Author Share Posted December 26, 2019 Saturday Night Live 45x10 Eddie Murphy / Lizzo That was pretty good. What was most impressive was probably the parade of previous castmembers, between the cold open sketch and the monologue, it was quite the site to see. Most of the skits were funny, though we probably laughed hardest at Weekend Update Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 How come I can't tape shows off Netflix? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 DRM? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 They'd let me tape things years ago, but there isn't even a hole to plug me video recorder into on these new teles. What if I wanna watch it later or when the internet isn't plugged in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 Bored tonight, are we? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted December 27, 2019 Share Posted December 27, 2019 It'd be nice if I could tape Lost in Space off Internetflicks. Was a good show. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted December 29, 2019 Share Posted December 29, 2019 The Witcher epi 1. Better than I was expecting, in fact I ended up really getting into it. There's an effective sense of rising tension during the finale of this opener, the high stakes of which are laid out quiet elegantly, all things considered - these are brand new characters and fiction, so I'm impressed that the director made me care. Near the beginning of the episode, that was never predicted to happen by me. So yeah, the central plot macguffin has already bed in quite well and I'm keen to carry on. Visual design and filming wise, it mostly looks the part and I bought into the world, but I do not like the heavy use of vignetting in certain scenes at all, it cheapens the look of it for my tastes and I hope they tone it down in future seasons. Cavill nails his look though, and his sparing Clint Eastwood gruff comes with just enough charisma for you to latch on to something. Let's see how he handles more detail later. I don't entirely agree with pub about the music. I think the underscore is already a step up from Thrones, and well, at least they use real instruments here. I thought I heard an actual orchestra anyway, and it was nice and dramatic at least on one occasion. What The Witcher is really lacking though is a strong main theme and opening credits sequence. This deserves a signature theme tune. They should work on that for S2, but probably won't do. Oh yeah - the sword fights were fucking badass! Imagine Jason Bourne with longswords... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,306 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 On 12/27/2019 at 12:39 PM, Þekþiþm said: It'd be nice if I could tape Lost in Space off Internetflicks. Was a good show. Buy the friggin Blu-ray! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 8 minutes ago, Alexcremers said: Buy the friggin Blu-ray! Fox refuses to make TV blu-rays anymore! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 To better protect the copyright holders! Ownership of Blu-ray's is possibly theft! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpy 4,145 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 Just finished season 1 of The Witcher. Was okay for the most part - great visuals, sets, camera work, but kind of a rushed and muddled plot. Names and places, races and wars are dumped in quick exposition in such a way that I didn't care about certain characters or plots. Each episode was an hour long but it never justified or felt like that time was well spent. Henry Cavill is actually alright as Geralt, something I was surprised by, and for the most part, so was the rest of the cast who deliver solid performances. I just can't shake the feeling, for all the show's epic qualities, how small it still feels, like a television drama. I'll keep watching, but it's not something I'm desperate to see more of. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 5 minutes ago, Stefancos said: To better protect the copyright holders! Ownership of Blu-ray's is possibly theft! They still make TV DVDs though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 DVD is a better TV format than Blu-ray? Who needs 1080 for Buffy or X-Files? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,306 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 25 minutes ago, Arpy said: Just finished season 1 of The Witcher. ... Great sets ... Indeed. Seen 5 episodes now, but to be honest, it's not getting better. It's also slightly too episodic for me. GOT it is NOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 17 hours ago, Quintus said: I don't entirely agree with pub about the music. I think the underscore is already a step up from Thrones, and well, at least they use real instruments here. I thought I heard an actual orchestra anyway, and it was nice and dramatic at least on one occasion. One occasion after how much hours of *music*? The art form has a real problem when even soundtrack fans set the bar at carpet edge height. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 I find little value in TV underscores myself. Edmilson 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmilson 7,260 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 Me too, there's very little of them I like. Most of it is just plain dull and uninteresting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A24 4,306 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 That's because you want JW bombast! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 2 minutes ago, Alexcremers said: That's because you want JW bombast! Which current TV show has really noteworthy music, Alex? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edmilson 7,260 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 5 minutes ago, Alexcremers said: That's because you want JW bombast! And who doesn't? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 47 minutes ago, publicist said: One occasion after how much hours of *music*? The art form has a real problem when even soundtrack fans set the bar at carpet edge height. This has been a widely accepted state of affairs for years now. It's desperate times. I didn't pay too much attention to the music in truth, but I'll appreciate any mildly standout moments where I can get 'em. I'm hardly about to go and track down the official soundtrack album. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JoeinAR 1,949 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 Lost in Space. Ready for season 3. I will gladly let all of you watch Witcher for me. Looks like got garbage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
publicist 4,643 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 32 minutes ago, Edmilson said: And who doesn't? Williams is a thing of the past now, but I'm certain if challenged many composers could come up with worthy stuff. 11 minutes ago, Quintus said: This has been a widely accepted state of affairs for years now. It's desperate times. I didn't pay too much attention to the music in truth, but I'll appreciate any mildly standout moments where I can get 'em. I'm hardly about to go and track down the official soundtrack album. Sure, what bugs me is that many if not all of these fantasy series would actually profit from a score that musically helps to build these things. It's like they are shooting themselves in the foot by denying watchers the pleasure of strong music and waste the money for composers doing atmosphere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quintus 5,399 Posted December 30, 2019 Share Posted December 30, 2019 The talent doesn't exist at the moment. And producers aren't looking for the sort of music you're talking about anyway, let alone nurturing it. Symphonic film music in particular is dead and TV soundtracking reached its peak with Game of Thrones, apparently. Edmilson 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arpy 4,145 Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 What was awful about the scores for the Game of Thrones series was that there were themes and motifs but they were utilised in the most basic/dull ways. Then I don't even know how much that's to do with the placement/mixing/editing etc. Seems most TV scores are heading the sound design route - flashy atmospheric drivel, eschewing strong thematic, nuanced ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koray Savas 2,251 Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 Thematic bombast is not the only way to score a project. Be more open minded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unlucky Bastard 7,782 Posted December 31, 2019 Share Posted December 31, 2019 10 hours ago, JoeinAR said: Lost in Space. Ready for season 3. Season 2 was amazing, particularly the finale. JoeinAR 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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