Andor leads right in to (the previously released film) Rogue One …
Day of the Jackal. The old bits are the best bits, and the new bits are…not. The focus on family life is an unwelcome addition that bogs the story down, on both sides, and it ultimately is an unsatisfying element that lowers the overall quality. Redmayne has some good moments as the lead, but his weakest scenes are also his most expressive, which is unfortunate. Far too much of the show detracts from its core; a killer methodically hunting a target, while being hunted. Not as bad as the The Jackal, not as good as the 1973 original.
2 Likes
They added to the source material and made it worse?!?
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Caught up with Murderbot so far - seriously, what is it with this one- episode-per-week retro bullshit? - and I think it is pretty good. It’s true to the spirit of the books, and only 3 things annoyed me: (1) the portrayal of PreservationAux as basically hippies, which is just lazy shorthand for Not Corporate; (2) the “filthy bodies” comment that @OhBollox screenshotted; Murderbot is annoyed by humans, but not contemptuous or repelled, and this comment is literally out of character; and (3) having to explain what the blank spots on the map are. The novella doesn’t go into this, and writers with a bit more courage might have also left it open. As it is, we now have a pointless McGuffin which at best won’t really affect the plot.
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Time is apparently up for Wheel of Time:
“Most TV shows either launch strongly before slowly fading, or they build an audience over a few seasons and then fade after reaching their peak. Game of Thrones defied these trends, and each new season drew a larger and larger viewership even as the show’s quality (arguably) dipped over time.”
GoT’s quality declined a little each season and then went off a cliff in its last season. I haven’t seen all of S3, but WoT seemed to finally be getting better, the way most Star Trek shows did back in the day. I think we may have reached a point where shows just will never have that kind of time to properly develop. You need to nail the first season now, which would have doomed Next Gen and DS9.
Quality of acting and production certainly improved, but writing remained pretty awful across all seasons.
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Gannibal. Addictive viewing. Police officer gets transferred to an idyllic village in the country. Village turns out to be a bit weird. Police officer turns out to be a bit of a hard case. I am bingeing this because the setting is just different enough to make the story feel different, but the overall structure is comfortably familiar; Japanese society is so different, and yet so similar, in many ways, that is alternately alien and eerily reminiscent.
If I want “police officer gets transferred to an idyllic village” it’s going to be Hot Fuzz🤣
3 Likes
Death Valley. Some nice gentle comedy and unchallenging investigation, as a detective and an actor pair up to solve murders. Timothy Spall finally getting more of a leading role, character actors deserve it.
Mr Inbetween. Lacking a lot of connective tissue so at times it feels disjointed and more like a series of little shorts in an episode, grimy comedy series about an Australian hitman with a temper problem. They got a lot of the attitudes correct, and some of it is genuinely funny.
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Severance. Just finished season 2.
Although season 1 was the most evocative series I’ve seen in a while, and I could not wait for season 2 to continue and hopefully conclude the story, I had a hard time starting it when it actually streamed.
I always found myself not in the right mood; avoiding, almost loathing its depressing tone and its effect on me.
When I finally found the ‘guts’ (and the right mood) I was instantly attracted to it again.
I had to re-watch season 1 all over again, as I had forgotten so many details since I’ve seen it and it was great. I even noticed things I can’t recall to have noticed the first time though, but it could be just my bad memory.
Anyway, season 2 is very good as well, but not as good as season 1 IMO. To be fair, it’s very difficult to reach its heights, as for me, season 1 gained much of its attractiveness from its novelty. Still the love the team has put into producing this is heartily felt, but I just wished they would’ve ended it there. I do not think there is much left in story to justify another season into this depressive, yet attractive world.
7 Likes
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, series 3. I do appreciate this is close to classic Trek, but with some modern sensibilities. Treads a fine line, and I think it’s quite difficult to do an arc’s climactic episode as the first of a new season. I like the characters and their actors, and the script is just smart enough to keep me from becoming jaundiced.
Righteous Gemstones, S4. I was surprised to see this one kick off in such a fashion, Bradley Cooper as a Gemstone ancestor in the middle of the American Civil War, but despite the odd quibble, I loved it. Some absolutely jet black humour, and a lot of uncompromising brutal violence.
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I am just now getting around to watching Season 1 of Strange New Worlds, and I feel similarly. It essentially nails the good things about TOS, which I’m impressed by, yet has enough of a contemporary feel in dialogue and plot (and filming) to make me feel like I’m watching a show for adults. It is a fine line, as you wrote, but they’re pulling it off so far. Christina Chong periodically makes all the other actors look like high school theater, but she did that in The Expanse too, so what can you do. The acting is always variable on a scifi series. The guy playing Spock was horribly mis-cast, but he’s growing on me. I did not like Discovery enough to stick with it (which I may try again at some point?), but I like this. Roddenberry would have loved this (and taken all the credit for it).
2 Likes
Like TNG, this has some great episodes, and some mediocre, but overall was solid and I look forward to more. That said, I was a huge DS9 fan, so not surprising, I found Discovery to be the best new ST since DS9.
Although - still, the single best hour of ST TV (and maybe of all TV ever - is TNG: The Inner Light
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Ok, DS9 is also my favorite Trek, so your praise of Discovery makes me think I really need to give it another chance. I think I only made it like 4 episodes or so. The Inner Light is second only to In the Pale Moonlight from DS9 : )
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Alien: Earth. I’m all for Alien media that ignores Ridley Scott’s latter-day turds, and hopefully this ends with him getting suplexed into the sun. A ship full of alien specimens crashes on Earth, and mayhem ensues. I was impressed how this feels like Alien immediately, and while it pushes some aspects too far, this is a promising start. I think part of the more thoughtful approach has been sacrificed for spectacle, but I am looking forward to more, and I feel confident about it, given the creator.
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Watching it rn. I’m a fan of all things Alien, even the more awful ones, but agreed on this feeling promising! Loved the cat on board too wink wink
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I am decided not a fan of all thing Alien. I think the first two are masterpieces, and the rest is a mixed bag from mildly entertaining to garbage. Even Romulus, which was heralded as a return to form, felt more like Alien’s version of the Force Awakens rather than a great continuation of the story. I’ve also mentioned before, but also generally don’t like the need to have a “bigger, badder” alien in every co seductive move (something Jurassic Park does, too). I know there is a whole story arc about using the xenos for genetic engineering purposes, so it is a natural extension of the monsters, but I’m a little tired of all the hybrid stuff; Xenia are already terrifying, use some solid writing to make them scary antagonists again rather than sidelining them to the next grotesque hybrid.
4 Likes
I haven’t seen Romulus yet. Does that matter for Earth? I am excited for it, every season of Fargo was at the very least good, and some outright brilliant.
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