What is the last Television series you watched?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I barely recall the 80's. And what i do recall isn't great.

[Quintus 5,399]

Why the 90s though, Steef? 

 

TNG, DS9, and Voyager... 

 

The nineties were the best ever decade for Star Trek!

 

Now it makes perfect sense. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

No. I became a soundtrack fan in the 90's!

 

And even you can't mock that because it's exactly the same for you.

[Jay 37,373]

The 90s were better than the 80s for sure! MUCH better music, better films, better clothes, better TV, better technologies...the internet!

 

The 80s, of course, had some all time classic films and scores though. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Anyone born 10 years earlier will disagree of course. As will anyone born 10 years later.

[Quintus 5,399]

4 hours ago, Jay said:

The 90s were better than the 80s for sure! MUCH better music, better films, better clothes

 

 

I vehemently disagree with this! 

 

Or is Jason a child of the 90s?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Just because you are nuts about the Police Academy films...

[Quintus 5,399]

I am? I've only seen about two of them I think. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Then I don't get it.

[crocodile 8,019]

Stranger Things. I'm on episode 4. It's ok, enjoyable and all. But nothing remarkable. Guess it proves that Spielberg imitators are now doing the job better than Spielberg at recapturing the lightning in the bottle. Not sure if this kind of things counts for something though... it's still an imitation.

 

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Better then Spielberg? Really?

[Jay 37,373]

I think the final episode makes the whole season.

 

It's really more like a long movie than a television show.

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

I was disappointed by the final episode.  

[A24 4,346]

8 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Better then Spielberg? Really?

 

Is it so hard to beat present-day Spielberg at his own game?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

But is Spielberg still playing that game, or has he moved on?

[A24 4,346]

Well, in theory, he has moved on but I would say he's steerless. I don't see any joy or passion in his latest movies. Like Ridley Scott, he keeps himself busy to pay the bills. What else is he going to do? When Spielberg's dead and buried, people will talk about achievements like Jaws, Close Encounters, Raiders and Schindler's List ... not War Horse or Bridges Of Spies.

 

 

PS: And no, people will not talk about Empire Of The Sun either, because that is his misunderstood masterpiece.

[Quintus 5,399]

8 hours ago, Jay said:

I think the final episode makes the whole season.

 

It's really more like a long movie than a television show.

 

I thought episode 4 was the tightest and most focused. I thought it was shifting up a gear there, but it dropped back down to fourth again for the rest. 

[Jay 37,373]

Interesting several people here feel that way. For me, they totally stuck the landing - for me, the season was made or broken by the finale and they totally nailed it. Loved both the conclusion of the season storyline as well as the epilogue.

[crocodile 8,019]

16 hours ago, Stefancos said:

Better then Spielberg? Really?

Modern Spielberg doing popcorn material, yeah.

 

Karol

[Jay 37,373]

The Deadwood follow-up movie script is being written, and Curb season 9 is expected to shoot this fall and air in '17.

 

http://www.avclub.com/article/hbo-exec-casey-bloys-future-curb-deadwood-and-jon--240379

[Quintus 5,399]

I reckon if Curb is as good as is hoped David will plough through another 2-3 seasons on top. 

 

2 hours ago, Jay said:

Interesting several people here feel that way. For me, they totally stuck the landing - for me, the season was made or broken by the finale and they totally nailed it. Loved both the conclusion of the season storyline as well as the epilogue.

 

I thought the unimaginative explore of the 'upside down' world didn't live up to its potential and was a real missed opportunity. I realise budgets are an issue, but working with what they had I still think it lacked invention. Hopefully season 2 will allow them to expand on the idea and make for something much more vivid, as it deserves to be.

 

I also thought they bottled out with the

 

demise of Papa. The way he just fell to the offscreen creature was disappointingly lame; that is a major distinction between these guys and Spielberg - a director who in his day would revel in a sudden gruesome comeuppance for his despicable main baddie. It ought to have been a wickedly fun death!

That was an oversight and a letdown in this. 

 

[Jay 37,373]

Oh Quint.....

 

Do you really think Mathew Modine is dead? I betcha he'll be back.

[Quintus 5,399]

I don't see why he would be, and it looked like he bit the dust to me. But who knows.

[KK 3,307]

I don't see why he would be either.

 

Also not sure how long they can keep it up with these characters. I can see Stranger Things being another one of those series with a different cast/plot-line each season.

[Quintus 5,399]

Yeah. A completely different storyline would be just as likely as a straight follow up. It seems designed around that format, actually. Tbh, I can't really think of any interesting ways to continue on with the current story as it is, but I'm sure they'll contrive something.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

12 hours ago, Alexcremers said:

Well, in theory, he has moved on but I would say he's steerless. I don't see any joy or passion in his latest movies. Like Ridley Scott, he keeps himself busy to pay the bills. What else is he going to do? When Spielberg's dead and buried, people will talk about achievements like Jaws, Close Encounters, Raiders and Schindler's List ... not War Horse or Bridges Of Spies.

 

What do you mean with steerless though? Spielberg has never chosen a particular direction when it comes to his filmography. While the big name directors like Nolan, Fincher, Tarantino etc are all specialists, Spielberg has always been eager to try different styles and genres. It's one of his strongest assets as a director I think.

[A24 4,346]

That's what I feel when I watch his movies. He lost interest in the very style that made him famous (his specialty, so to speak) and he can't find the money to make the movies he wants to make today. What we get is some sort of compromise.  Kids moves or history movies ... all technically sound but no heart. It's not the kind of work that get me excited. To know, or better yet, to feel what I'm talking about, watch how Jaws, Close Encounters, Raiders, Empire Of The Sun are made and then watch War Horse or Bridges of Spies. I no longer see no passion or enthusiasm, only 'steerlessness' (which is not really a word but hey!). Spielberg doesn't seem to be in a position that he can do what he wants.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

im pretty sure Spielberg wanted to make Bridge Of Spies and The BFG. If anything its the rest of the world who wants him to make other stuff. Though no one seems to agree what?

[A24 4,346]

You think he lives for making movies like War Horse but I doubt that. I think it's a compromise. I don't understand why anyone wants to make a movie like that. You still see the passion and think War Horse is every bit as good as his very best movie.  Spielberg excites you. It's like Thor claiming that Prometheus is just as good as Alien or Blade Runner. I don't agree. It's not what I'm perceiving while watching those movies. That's why I don't think that The BFG will be mentioned at the Oscar Tribute when Spielberg has passed away. When I watch a Spielberg movie, I think of what Spielberg has said and that is that he has lost his interest in action but that he, on the other hand, can't get the movies financed that he truly wants to make. Like Thor you think Spileberg is still on a roll, at the top of his game, and that nothing has changed. I miss the so-called wunderkind of the early years. We are all different ...

 

 

 

 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I haven't even seen War Horse, or Lincoln.

There are plenty of Spielberg films I don't care for. But I don't think that's because he got forced into makkng them.

 

 

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Spielberg doesn't need to make money from his directorial efforts. He's one of Hollywood's biggest producers. Why would have toiled away at getting Lincoln off the ground for nearly a decade if it was any other way? That one almost became an HBO film because no one wanted to finance it. He would have still directed it otherwise.

[publicist 4,643]

To push Alex' argument a bit further one could say this trend started with 'Color Purple' which is a really excellent movie (a few missteps aside). Spielberg really made this to prove himself 'worthy' - on the other hand, even much in his life later his own choice in dubious commercial material raised many an eyebrow at Dreamworks which is mentioned more than once in his several biographies (McBride, for instance). So i doubt that Spielberg making movies he truly wanted to make would make Alex more happy: by chance, 'Transfomers' and 'Haunted Mansion' could be among them.

[A24 4,346]

Seems like a waste of talent. All though you could say that about John Williams too. Even worse, his choices almost entirely depend on Spielberg's dubious choices.  For me Spielberg doesn't feel like an important director anymore. I no longer look out for his next movie (or the next score of Williams).

 

And yes, The Color Purple is a good movie, but one that becomes less so each time I see it, because it's a bit too straightforward. To me, Empire Of The Sun is his only movie that is truly layered and suggestive. 

[publicist 4,643]

Nobody looked forward to Howard Hawks' 'Rio Lobo' or John Ford's '7 Women'. So what? Directing is a young man's game. With Spielberg i don't mind 'The BFG' - it was one of my better recent movie experiences - but the endless, behaved borefests like 'Lincoln' and 'Bridge of Spies'. He just has no exciting vision for these historical things.

[A24 4,346]

I don't care so much for John Ford or other classical Hollywood directors who only served 'The Matrix'. And Kubrick's last movie is probably one of his best so age doesn't always matter.

[publicist 4,643]

Yeah of course there are exceptions but the odds are against aging directors.

 

Back on topic: E3 of 'The Night of' which stays on course after a great beginning.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

So what films should Spielberg be making?

[Quintus 5,399]

It's funny, he used to get criticised by some for being the crowd pleaser with everything he did. Now he's largely moved away from that, receives a different acclaim for it, but is still criticised (by his old fans). Damned if he does... 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Exactly! 

[Quintus 5,399]

I don't go along with the suggestion that Spielberg doesn't make the films he really wants to, though. That's absurd. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Indy 4 is probably the only one in recent memory he did because it was sort of expected of him. But no one put a gun to his head even for that one. And he seems for some reason to want to make another one

 

His choice of films can be odd at times, but like I said, he loves to mix it up apparently.

[Quintus 5,399]

His tie to Indiana Jones is straightforward though as he's always felt obligated to do it because of his friend Lucas. Spielberg would never betray that loyalty. That isn't exactly a complicated arrangement, there. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

True enough.

[Quintus 5,399]

"Raiders saved my career!"

[A24 4,346]

1 hour ago, Stefancos said:

So what films should Spielberg be making?

 

Titles? Genres? What is more important it's how he makes them. I expect something more than just workmanlike. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

That's your interpretation of his current style Alex. Pub is largely on the money.

Spielberg is no longer the wunderkind director of the 70's and early 80's. Most great directors do their best work in their earliest years, when they are young and eager to prove themselves amongst their peers and to the world. (there are some exceptions of course. Kubrick remained very consistent and Hitchcock did some of his best work very late in his career)

 

The Spielberg of today isnt a workman-like director at all. But the passion of the young man has made way for the assured experience of an older director, who can tackle any genre of style he chooses.

 

The problem seems mainly to be his "devoted" fans, who never really wanted Spielberg to grow up I guess.

[Quintus 5,399]

Plus there's people like Koray or GreyPilgrim who come along and say they prefer his later work anyway. 

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I don't agree with that, but it's a perfectly valid opinion to have.

 

A.I. is not better then E.T. though....

 

[A24 4,346]

Well, my interpretation is that he still makes the same movies but in a workmanlike and more mannered way. You call it 'matured', but I see an uninspired director, forced to do the same thing over and over again. If the youthful enthusiasm is gone, he should move on to something else (but then he complains that studios don't wanna pay for something else). Steerless!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Forced by who?

 

Do the studios put a gun to his head and force him to do Lincoln? That's simply not the case Alex. Spielberg picks and chooses his projects very carefully. How many projects hasnt he initially been attracted too and them walked away from?

 

You may not care about his projects, but I'm sure he does.