The TV we watch...
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Howie
Donkey in a hat
Anybody watching Loki?
S'alright. Not amazing, but alright. Personally I'm finding it mildly more enjoyable than both WandaVision and Falcon & Winter Soldier (in fact I never even bothered to finish F&WS) but I do have a feeling that as the series progresses it may start becoming a bit too surreal, confusing and, just like a lot of the recent Marvel output, just a little bit too 'woke'.
Woki, anyone?
S'alright. Not amazing, but alright. Personally I'm finding it mildly more enjoyable than both WandaVision and Falcon & Winter Soldier (in fact I never even bothered to finish F&WS) but I do have a feeling that as the series progresses it may start becoming a bit too surreal, confusing and, just like a lot of the recent Marvel output, just a little bit too 'woke'.
Woki, anyone?
Retaining judgement for the end of the series, but I’ve personally enjoyed the first three episodes. Definitely see the multiverse angle of Phase 4 continuing to expand. Agree it's better than Falcon & Winter Solider (alas, just didn't had a good, driving finish), but I was really bullish on Wandavision, completely loved the experimental nature of the miniseries. (Here's my MCU recent rankings if interested: https://coasterforce.com/forums/threads/ranking-the-mcu-so-far.42445/post-1108762)
Another series back after hiatus is Rick and Morty Season 5. It’s brilliantly written and completely hilarious. If you also need additional to reason to watch; ½ of the Community creative is also behind Rick and Morty (as I pitched to @Antinos tiday
).
Yeah, I think that one of the things about the Disney + stuff (along with the Dave Filoni Star Wars stuff) is that they're really for deep fans, but are also trying to be popular at the same time - so they're struggling to keep the series' in both camps.
I loved WandaVision for the first few episodes. I thought the attention to detail, the way it was so lovingly produced, was fabulous. It was a slow burn, oddball distortion of reality. That then just became like an episode of "Agents of Shield" (not a good thing). It still had its moments, but it needed to be "a real program" in the end for pay-off for "everyone". It couldn't stick to the conviction of the early episodes, as it was just too "kookie".
F&WS was beset with issues due to Covid, but it wasn't put together well. Was it a tale of PTSD? A buddy series? A serious look at the undercurrent of the neglected in the world? It never really settled on what it was going to be about. Some blame is definitely on the production issues due to Covid, but not all of it.
And back to Loki and your point @Howie - Marvel Comics ARE surreal and confusing a huge amount of the time. It's only stuff written in the last 15 years or so that you would consider a straight story (told in a cinematic way) Both WandaVision and Loki are very true to the way the comics are presented- and yes - they will get very surreal and confusing. I worry that this will cause greater problems in the MCU as they go down the whole time-travel/multiverse road. It turns people off when things get all weird. People want to see a clear good guy defeating a clear bad guy in some kind of chase from start to finish.
The only show that I think has ever succeeded in doing it properly is Legion. That was completely out there, and stuck with being completely out there as its USP. It never pandered to traditional film-making and worked because of it (whether you liked it or not is a different matter, but it was consistent
).Loki will get bizarre. It will make people think differently about the current MCU as it stands and what the MCU in the future is going to look like. It will continue to try and be a traditional show, whilst also being quirky and paying lip-service to deep fans.
Personally, I like them, but I've now read a ridiculous number of Marvel Comics from across the decades (I've subscribed to this for the last five years - https://hachettepartworks.com/en-en/marvel-ultimate-graphic-novels-collection-2016/).
So I like it all, but I'm reserved in it as they don't quite know how to settle down, and I'm concerned that it will affect the films franchises negatively.
The Star Wars stuff (anyone watch "The Bad Batch"?) is kind of a lot better, because you have one massive nerd running all the stuff outside of the films. There's complete consistency in terms of look, feel, theme, characters, etc. Almost a reverse of Marvel where the films are excellent and the TV ropey...
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DelPiero
Strata Poster
I just finished The Boys, holy crap that was a good show. So many WTF moments, absolutely loved it.
Yeah, the whale and the gills are big standouts, the trial was also brilliant, I also loved the episode in Sage Grove.
Season 1's highlight for me was the Dolphin.
Even though I'm not a "Deep" fan, his scenes are definitely up there.
Also - Shantel VanSanten, where the hell has she been all my life?
FarleyFlavors
Mega Poster
Just had a look at the list of titles and noticed that Warlock is included. Did you get copies of these?
I loved them when I was a kid, especially the story in the first volume. The second volume features the origins of Thanos' obsession with the Infinity Stones (then called "soul gems").
Got quite excited when Warlock turned up in the post-credits scene in Guardians of the Galaxy 2, but it seems there's still no news of him turning up in a more prominent role in the MCU.
jj23w
Hyper Poster
He’s likely to turn up I need GOTG3 whether that’s as an antagonist or just a hero. One thing to note there’s no Space/Cosmic until next year with Captain Marvel 2 which I’m doubtful he will be in.
I did, yeah. It was really interesting seeing this kind of nascent Marvel universe brimming with ideas that some writers then took and built the foundations (in the comics) of what is the MCU now. It was proper out there stuff though - a weird mix of sci-fi and fantasy melded together.
I kind of wasn't impressed with Loki in the end. I thought Alligator Loki did the heavy lifting in episode 5 and episode 6?
I was hoping for something more with Kang, but understand (having read it all ) why they didn't start with Kang the Conqueror. It was still a bit of a weak drop off, though. I watched the "Making of" on D+ and they said they wanted to turn the typical Marvel third act into something different. Instead of a massive climactic battle, some exposition. I can appreciate that, but...
The whole thing just then ended up stinking of an advert for "The Multiverse of Madness" phase 4. While you see Loki grow into the Loki we see in latter MCU films, Silvie just never grows or changes. It feels like her entire character revolves around the fact that she has to kick off "The Multiverse of Madness!!!". Does that play into the whole "predestination" thing? You could argue it, but her character was a bullet fired in episode 2 that was never going to do anything but hit its target in episode 6 - there was nothing that could change that, which makes it weak, as we never really got to see any reason she would. So yeah, then the whole series becomes a bit pointless as the path was laid out from the start.
It had some great moments, but Marvel are becoming the Stephen King of the cinematic world - they don't know how to end things.
) why they didn't start with Kang the Conqueror. It was still a bit of a weak drop off, though. I watched the "Making of" on D+ and they said they wanted to turn the typical Marvel third act into something different. Instead of a massive climactic battle, some exposition. I can appreciate that, but...The whole thing just then ended up stinking of an advert for "The Multiverse of Madness" phase 4. While you see Loki grow into the Loki we see in latter MCU films, Silvie just never grows or changes. It feels like her entire character revolves around the fact that she has to kick off "The Multiverse of Madness!!!". Does that play into the whole "predestination" thing? You could argue it, but her character was a bullet fired in episode 2 that was never going to do anything but hit its target in episode 6 - there was nothing that could change that, which makes it weak, as we never really got to see any reason she would. So yeah, then the whole series becomes a bit pointless as the path was laid out from the start.
It had some great moments, but Marvel are becoming the Stephen King of the cinematic world - they don't know how to end things.
nadroJ
CF Legend
I’m one episode away from finishing Midnight Mass on Netflix and think it's fantastic. Not as good as Haunting of Hill House but better than Bly Manor in my book. Mike Flanagan once again confirming himself as king of the jump scares.
In October I also finally watched Over the Garden Wall. I have no idea why it took me so long to watch it, I see everyone talking about it every year during October and this year I actually managed to make the time for it. It's one of the best things I've ever watched and I haven't stopped thinking about it. It's so beautiful, the stylisation, the colourways, the music, the storylines. It's everything I adore about autumn encapsulated in one perfect mini-series and it's glorious. I'm going to try and hold off until next autumn before I watch it again but I know I'm not going to hold out that long.
Just got stuck into Season 5 (?!) of Big Mouth this evening. It's off to a good start, once again the animation and character designs are top notch and the voice-acting is where most of the laughs come from for me. That and the endlessly relatable visualisation of what it is to be a horny teenager.
In October I also finally watched Over the Garden Wall. I have no idea why it took me so long to watch it, I see everyone talking about it every year during October and this year I actually managed to make the time for it. It's one of the best things I've ever watched and I haven't stopped thinking about it. It's so beautiful, the stylisation, the colourways, the music, the storylines. It's everything I adore about autumn encapsulated in one perfect mini-series and it's glorious. I'm going to try and hold off until next autumn before I watch it again but I know I'm not going to hold out that long.
Just got stuck into Season 5 (?!) of Big Mouth this evening. It's off to a good start, once again the animation and character designs are top notch and the voice-acting is where most of the laughs come from for me. That and the endlessly relatable visualisation of what it is to be a horny teenager.
jxe_03
Roller Poster
Got to agree with you on that about big mouth I spiritually relate to Lola and aiden
I’ll have to try midnight mass and over the garden wall seem like good watches
FarleyFlavors
Mega Poster
Noticed The Leftovers is getting a repeat run on Sky shortly.
I was late to the party on this one. A show about a Rapture-style event in which two percent of the world's population suddenly disappears, co-created by one of the guys responsible for Lost? Yeah, on paper it sounds awful.
It was only the universal critical praise that persuaded me to give it a go. On Metacritic, for instance, it's listed as the best reviewed show of the last decade.
Turns out the critics were right. This is superb television. Dripping with class throughout, from the scripts and performances to the production design and photography.
It's a show that delights in being utterly unpredictable. Whenever you feel like you've got a handle on what's going on and what might happen next, you get the rug pulled from under your feet.
Couple of caveats, mind.
One is that it's relentlessly grim. One of the themes concerns how society, both collectively and individually, might respond to such major grief - and many of the characters become deeply unpleasant as a result. Don't expect an easy watch.
Secondly, unlike Lost, which started off with a blindly good pilot episode and rapidly disappeared up its own backside, The Leftovers takes a little while to find its feet. It isn't until the third episode (focussing on Christopher Eccleston, and he's never been better than in this show) that you get glimpses of the genius to come and it isn't until the second series that it's truly firing on all cylinders.
Check it out. It's one of the all-time greatest TV dramas and easily my favourite telly programme of the last twenty years.
I was late to the party on this one. A show about a Rapture-style event in which two percent of the world's population suddenly disappears, co-created by one of the guys responsible for Lost? Yeah, on paper it sounds awful.
It was only the universal critical praise that persuaded me to give it a go. On Metacritic, for instance, it's listed as the best reviewed show of the last decade.
Turns out the critics were right. This is superb television. Dripping with class throughout, from the scripts and performances to the production design and photography.
It's a show that delights in being utterly unpredictable. Whenever you feel like you've got a handle on what's going on and what might happen next, you get the rug pulled from under your feet.
Couple of caveats, mind.
One is that it's relentlessly grim. One of the themes concerns how society, both collectively and individually, might respond to such major grief - and many of the characters become deeply unpleasant as a result. Don't expect an easy watch.
Secondly, unlike Lost, which started off with a blindly good pilot episode and rapidly disappeared up its own backside, The Leftovers takes a little while to find its feet. It isn't until the third episode (focussing on Christopher Eccleston, and he's never been better than in this show) that you get glimpses of the genius to come and it isn't until the second series that it's truly firing on all cylinders.
Check it out. It's one of the all-time greatest TV dramas and easily my favourite telly programme of the last twenty years.
nadroJ
CF Legend
The Christmas episode of Big Mouth has sent me to the moon. I loved and hated it in every way.
Midnight Mass ended, really enjoyed it. Not as good as Hill House but still excellent.
Started the new season of Tiger King and honestly I'm over it. I'll probably watch it out of boredom but I don't really care about it any more.
I'm four eps into American Horror Story: Double Feature and as per every season of AHS either I can't say I really get it, but I bet on second watch I'll love it. I rewatched '84 during October and adored it.
Midnight Mass ended, really enjoyed it. Not as good as Hill House but still excellent.
Started the new season of Tiger King and honestly I'm over it. I'll probably watch it out of boredom but I don't really care about it any more.
I'm four eps into American Horror Story: Double Feature and as per every season of AHS either I can't say I really get it, but I bet on second watch I'll love it. I rewatched '84 during October and adored it.
Will
Strata Poster
I'm sure I'll end up watching Tiger King at some point, but it won't have the effect of the original. I've not read any particularly positive reviews of it sadly.
Must get around to watching Midnight Mass - I keep meaning to and keep getting distracted.
Big Mouth comes under the heading of things that I only found particularly entertaining while drunk. I approve of Depression Kitty though.
Will
Strata Poster
I finally watched the South Park pandemic special, because I needed something inane to make me laugh tonight.
VERY funny, I expected my neighbours to bang on the wall I was laughing that much. Needless to say though - it's South Park, not for the easily offended - even *I* had a 'Jesus Christ, did they just do THAT?' moment.
Maybe I'll watch the vaccination one tomorrow - if only for the pig squeal Cartman makes when confronted with a needle.
VERY funny, I expected my neighbours to bang on the wall I was laughing that much. Needless to say though - it's South Park, not for the easily offended - even *I* had a 'Jesus Christ, did they just do THAT?' moment.
Maybe I'll watch the vaccination one tomorrow - if only for the pig squeal Cartman makes when confronted with a needle.
pvnks
Mega Poster
Their social commentary is on the nose and I loved it!
Especially the constant ragging on people wearing masks like "chin diapers"
Lori Marie Loud
Giga Poster
Nothing of the sort happens there, sadly
Lori Marie Loud
Giga Poster
It's sidelined for the Vaccination Special. Thank god they did that, hopefully the upcoming season also sidelines it.