Skip Bayless
The Skip Bayless Show
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Just watched Coherence...nice concept, but I felt like the director just wanted to **** with my mind.
OT: Let's talk about movies (and TV shows)... Part IX
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NoNachoNoParty
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The Wire is up there with those shows that i want to forget that iv'e watched just so i can enjoy it for the first time again.
WhiskeySeven*
Expect the expected
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Breaking Bad lost a bit of its lustre because too many people loved it*, but it's a well written show and frankly, really well executed. It's best if you approach it as a live-action graphic novel.
HoC is disappointing in some ways, season 2 wasn't that engaging and I'm not interested in season3.
I'm not worried about s2 of True Detective, they earned a lot of trust and I'm going to go in with an open mind.
*to clarify: I mean that too many people talked about just the plot and "omg what happened there!!" but didn't appreciate the cinematography and editing and other fundamentals of it as much as they could. It's a great show actually.
I can see this show being compared to The Wire (a little bit), but not to BB and House of Cards. But Woody and Matthew are much bigger caliber actors than any actors in The Wire and it really was what made me love this show so much. Just re-watching their performances gives me shivers, oh and this scene....
I don't think it's even worthy of mention within the same sentence of the Wire, or even the Shield. Maybe it's because of the longevity. The wire and Shield are 5-7 seasons long. True Detective ends after a season. Not the same time frame to get to know the characters.
True Detective really just felt like a movie to me. I enjoyed it though. Why worried about season 2?.
You should watch Better Call Saul if you enjoyed the writing of BB.
Really loved the first season.
KrejciMVP
Registered User
Mr Smith goes to Washington was on TV today, what a film, really had an effect on me. They really knew how to make good movies back then.
WhiskeySeven*
Expect the expected
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That's actually why I really enjoyed BCS. Fantastic writing, the motivations just worked. I was a bit bored of some repetitive elements but the strong writing kept me in.
Skip Bayless
The Skip Bayless Show
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OnTheRun
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- May 17, 2014
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2 words: Vince Vaughn
I was hoping his character would die in the first 10 minutes of the first episode, but IMDB have him listed for 8 episodes.
DAChampion
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- May 28, 2011
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Have you watched Avengers 2 yet? I think a lot of people would enjoy reading a scathing review of the movie from you. Remember, in order to become a great screenwriter, you shouldn't just watch good movies, you also need to dissect movies that are bad and understand why they're bad
.Regarding your point, you lament the invincibility of the avengers relative to their opponents but I think that's the point. It's a power fantasy. Written by, directed by, and targeted to the people who were bullied in high school because they were weak, starring people who were probably the bullies and financed by investors who parented the bullies. OK, OK, I digress.
But more seriously, it is a power fantasy and I do think the invincibility is a point. Marvel goes out of their way to make sure that there are no fictional civilian casualties in their movies:
- In Iron Man 2, Iron fights the drones and Vanko in an empty arboretum;
- Thor, in Thor, fights the destroyer in a desert town with no one around;
- Iron Man 3 they fight in an empty shipping dock area during the climax;
- In Thor 2, Kurse beats up Thor in the middle of nowhere;
- In CA:TWS, the helicarriers are nearly unmanned (lol), and then they fall in the water rather than on populated areas;
- In Avengers and Ultron, the enemy are extremely weak, so they can be easily contained;
It is clearly a deliberate writing strategy to employ these (artificial) plot devices to make sure that there are no fictional civilian casualties.
That is because it is what the consumer wants. It is part of the power fantasy appeal that these heroes not just win, but win with comprehensive, overwhelming dominance and total victory. In contrast, there was another comic book movie that came out in 2013 called Man of Steel, where the hero was himself overwhelmed by villains stronger than him, he failed in large swaths of his mission because of that, and moreover lots of fictional characters died, and the internet and several reviewers revolted in horror. It was argued that the movie was bad primarily because the titular character did not achieve comprehensive victory on his own terms.
Other examples you might be more familiar with, some people didn't like the ending of The Dark Knight because Batman kills Harvey Dent at the end, and Batman is supposed to have a no-kill rule, him killing Dent means a failure in the screenplay. I think Chris Nolan may have deliberately appeased / mocked? these fanboys in TDKR by having Catwoman kill Bane with a gun, in case you don't know there's a rule that Batman should never use guns. Articles have been written about Jurassic World critiquing a mean-spirited scene where this British lady is eaten by a giant fish.
The point being, that your view which I share incidentally, is not the dominant viewpoint. People want to see happy endings regardless of whether or not they're earned (Silver Linings Playbook, Avengers, etc). Some European friends argue it's a feature of America, that Americans cannot deal with consequences, they want to deny them, but the fact is these movies do well internationally.
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DAChampion
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I really, profoundly loved True Detective, great acting, great writing, great directing, great everything.
I think part of the appeal of the story was that many of us had never seen a character like Rust Cohle before. A lot of men are actually a lot like Rust Cohle in the real world, with his atheism and practical nihilism and failure to maintain good relationships, etc. but we never see ourselves portrayed onscreen, it's always some relatively phoney archetypes. Having McConaughay portray such a true character, and portray him well, was like a ****ing release.
That speech he gave, about time being a flat circle ... believe it or not it's not as deep as it sounds. He said stuff that's mostly been well-known for a hundred years. However, it fit well within this context, and there's never any philosophy beyond the question of God in Hollywood productions, so it rocked.
mitchmagic
Registered User
HabsCowboysOwn
Wak Prescott the 60M/yr scam artist, here we gooo!
I binge-watched the first season recently, it was good but I wouldn't say I'm totally hooked yet. I'd even say it was kinda meh considering the hype. I'll probably give it another shot but does it get significantly better in season 2?
DAChampion
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Depends on your tastes. Every season covers a different topic.
Season 2 is about masculinity, other issues too but the main theme is masculinity.
Season 3: politics;
Season 4: school system;
Season 5: journalism;
[Season 1: drug trade]
Though every season covers additional subjects as well. I honestly love seasons 1-4 pretty much equally.
WhiskeySeven*
Expect the expected
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Great post, but this part in particular is something that I wanted to highlight. American audiences, and filmmakers (I was classmates with some of the best at one of the best film-schools in the States; even the hipster, artistic, experimental ones avoided consequences - sad endings sure, but not consequences) and even execs don't like consequences. It's also reflected in American foreign policy for the past century. Did you know Jimmy Carter is the only American president to visit Hiroshima?
I read somewhere that Avengers is a right-wing fantasy, I'm not too sure how much I believe that but I don't care to read too much into the Marvel-universe to come up with my own essay. But in the Marvel universe: War happens, guns are fired, the right people win and "nobody" dies. But deeper than that is approach: it's always violent confrontation, always an ideological battle with no compromise (again, I haven't watched many Marvel movies, and I don't care to). And no one dies... except for the inhuman, completely alien bad guys. And that's what everyone does in war - makes the other team look inhuman and alien. The Jerry, the Fritz, the Hun, the Gook, the Haji, the Jap, the Red, the Slope etc. But real people get hurt, and that's where real drama should be
It's absurd that it has trickled into civilian interactions. Just because of your post, I'm gonna watch Man of Steel, I wonder how I'll react to it. Interesting that you brought up Silver Linings Playbook, I really didn't understand the love for that movie - the only scene I particularly liked (or remember now) was when that guy paraphrases the ending to A Farewell to Arms.
Season 2 is really different in setting but identical in approach but take all our words for it: by the time you end all five season you'll love it. Pretend it's medicine and you have to finish the prescription.
DAChampion
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WhiskeySeven*
Expect the expected
- Jun 17, 2007
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I've recently finished Dan Carlin's Hardcore History podcast on WW1 - Blueprint for Armageddon. I don't know much about the war, other than the Canadian perspective. The sheer number of practically identical, western Europeans who died, particularly the French and German, in that meat-grinder, pointless war is unfathomable. I know WW2 had higher casualties but it was predicated by the terms of WW1 anyway.
Entire towns worth of people perished. It's been 100 years and Verdun still looks like this...
I really don't enjoy fiction that trivializes lives and death and danger but tries to stay real and "grim". That's why The Dark Knight Rises infuriated me - the bad guys have guns drawn on 3000 weaponless cops but they all run at each other to engage in (poorly choreographed) fisticuffs?? As opposed to another Nolan film, Inception where it makes sense that the bad guys are faceless grunts. I can deal with stormtroopers and orcs to an extent because it's such a removed level of fantasy but if someone is attacking earth and people are in peril, heros will die, ordinary people will die and their deaths will affects the people around them.
You can't make it seem like "oh no, NYC is under attack! AND WE MUST SAVE IT" and not show or care about the damage the attack does to the city. If your characters have to save the city, it must be for a reason and that reason must be established or at the very least touched upon - maybe Thors' fkn girlfriend lives in the Village (near W7, who also needs saving). These movies take far too much for granted and we end up with three extra, useless characters, a lot of awful CGI fighting and, ultimately, nothing.
Entire towns worth of people perished. It's been 100 years and Verdun still looks like this...
I really don't enjoy fiction that trivializes lives and death and danger but tries to stay real and "grim". That's why The Dark Knight Rises infuriated me - the bad guys have guns drawn on 3000 weaponless cops but they all run at each other to engage in (poorly choreographed) fisticuffs?? As opposed to another Nolan film, Inception where it makes sense that the bad guys are faceless grunts. I can deal with stormtroopers and orcs to an extent because it's such a removed level of fantasy but if someone is attacking earth and people are in peril, heros will die, ordinary people will die and their deaths will affects the people around them.
You can't make it seem like "oh no, NYC is under attack! AND WE MUST SAVE IT" and not show or care about the damage the attack does to the city. If your characters have to save the city, it must be for a reason and that reason must be established or at the very least touched upon - maybe Thors' fkn girlfriend lives in the Village (near W7, who also needs saving). These movies take far too much for granted and we end up with three extra, useless characters, a lot of awful CGI fighting and, ultimately, nothing.
DAChampion
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Yes, TDKR's biggest problems are:
- The movie is better if you remove Marion Cotillard;
- Tone-deaf happy ending;
In that order, in my opinion. Whether or not that makes it a bad movie depends on how you weigh those points versus how you weigh the strengths, such as the logical continuation to the events of TDK (Dent Act, false peace, depression for Bruce), portrayal of depression, the awesomeness that is Bane, Bane breaking Batman's back, and Anne Hathaway being a ton of fun.
I really like the first 90 minutes of TDKR. But regardless, this is one of those movies where I've been compelled by overwhelming arguments on the internet to see the flaws in the movie.
- The movie is better if you remove Marion Cotillard;
- Tone-deaf happy ending;
In that order, in my opinion. Whether or not that makes it a bad movie depends on how you weigh those points versus how you weigh the strengths, such as the logical continuation to the events of TDK (Dent Act, false peace, depression for Bruce), portrayal of depression, the awesomeness that is Bane, Bane breaking Batman's back, and Anne Hathaway being a ton of fun.
I really like the first 90 minutes of TDKR. But regardless, this is one of those movies where I've been compelled by overwhelming arguments on the internet to see the flaws in the movie.
WhiskeySeven*
Expect the expected
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I don't really want to talk about TDKR, I hate that movie. The entire film is tone-deaf: a Batman movie cannot be grimdark realistic and so dry and lacking in humour, it's too goofy as a concept. He cannot fight during the day like a dumb brawler, it goes against everything established in the first one and even the second one.
Anyway, everything wrong about TDKR is summarized in this scene
Anyway, everything wrong about TDKR is summarized in this scene
DAChampion
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I recently finished Friday Night Lights, a five-season TV series that was ranked 22nd best of all time, that people have told me is life-changing viewing, and I think was recommended by people on this site. It stars Kyle Chandler. I had previously raved about how awesome season 1 was.
I liked it, but ultimately it wasn't as good as I thought it was. If I'm being honest:
Season 1: 8.5/10
Season 2: 6/10
Season 3: 2/10
Season 4: 6/10
Season 5: 6/10
Or something like that, I'm not sure. I liked season one because I liked the characters and they seemed to be experiencing raw, honest lives... it reminded me of the Degrassi High reruns I used to watch back in the 1990s. That kind of lasted and kind of didn't. For the rest of the series the show seemed to be an anthropological hit-and-run, where it would touch on a lot of controversial topics (as opposed to ignoring them like most shows), and then mostly move on. There were consequences but they were fleeting.
There's a rape->murder the rapist story in season two, which the fanbase apparently hated. I thought it was ok, it made sense, I'm not sure if anyone could die that way but then they tried to cover it up and didn't know how and that was quite interesting. What was missing was any PTSD from Tyra Collette's character. It's as if her male-friend Landry was the only victim of the rape.
Worst for me was not the much-derided season two, but season three. They set up all these interesting story arcs in season two ... and they disappeared offscreenville between seasons two and three. Buddy Garrity adopted a kid named Santiago, he struggled with it and it changed him ... and pouf ! he's gone and we never heard of him again like he never existed. Lyla Garrity was getting involved with some Christian lunatics, as happens to a lot of teenagers. She was actually thanking Jesus for food prior to eating. Pouf ! she's no longer involved, nobody knows why she left.
This continues into season four where we got a deluge of social issues coming up. School split into two. Problematic teenagers. Star quarterback is friends with drug dealers. Mother is an addict. Father is an ex-con. Everything, absolutely everything gets resolved with a happy ending and/or is swept under the rug.
In season 2, coach Taylor comes back to the team to be with his family, and he leads to the other coach being fired in the process. It's really too easy ... the other coach who is fired is shown as somebody who deserves to be fired regardless, so Taylor is not the enemy for having him fired. He comes back for one last season when moving away, to say that it sucks to be fired, he never thought another coach would do this to him, it's a fair very human scene. It's a good scene. He says to Coach Taylor that he will suffer for this, but we don't see any consequences to these actions so whatever.
There's an interesting storyline setup with J.D McCoy in season 3. He's an ultra-talented, ultra-shy kid, who knows only football (the video game Madden is his top hobby) with a bully of a father. Great setup. Interesting. Outstanding ! And then it gets resolved easily. In season 3 he has a nervous meltdown in the last game, and in season 4 he comes back as a spoiled brat. He sexually assaults Julie Taylor, he's causing property damage all around the city, his parents get divorced, he's defeated in the last game of season 4 and we never hear of him again. I'll also note it's a casting problem that they cast an actor with spaghetti arms to play J.D. McCoy, we keep being told has an exceptional arm and can throw 70 yard passes.
There's a weird storyline involving Luke Cafferty. He's the second best player on the best high school team in Texas, the top Football state in the country. And there is no legitimate college that wants him for NCAA. WTF?
As you can tell I think this show would have benefited from fewer storylines with each remaining storyline done better, deeper, and longer.
Throughout this all there is some positive. The acting is very good. The series finale does a good deal of tying up the loose ends. It's not obvious how seasons 1, 2, 3, 4 are going to end. There's also a whole lot of really sweet moments between the characters that are very well thought out. For example, I like the one in season 5 where all of the teenage boys are discussing things in their hotel balcony, and the coach is in earshot but out of sight. There's a lot of warmth from the Taylor family that comes through. The jokes are often really funny without being excessive or dumb slapstick humour.
I liked it, but ultimately it wasn't as good as I thought it was. If I'm being honest:
Season 1: 8.5/10
Season 2: 6/10
Season 3: 2/10
Season 4: 6/10
Season 5: 6/10
Or something like that, I'm not sure. I liked season one because I liked the characters and they seemed to be experiencing raw, honest lives... it reminded me of the Degrassi High reruns I used to watch back in the 1990s. That kind of lasted and kind of didn't. For the rest of the series the show seemed to be an anthropological hit-and-run, where it would touch on a lot of controversial topics (as opposed to ignoring them like most shows), and then mostly move on. There were consequences but they were fleeting.
There's a rape->murder the rapist story in season two, which the fanbase apparently hated. I thought it was ok, it made sense, I'm not sure if anyone could die that way but then they tried to cover it up and didn't know how and that was quite interesting. What was missing was any PTSD from Tyra Collette's character. It's as if her male-friend Landry was the only victim of the rape.
Worst for me was not the much-derided season two, but season three. They set up all these interesting story arcs in season two ... and they disappeared offscreenville between seasons two and three. Buddy Garrity adopted a kid named Santiago, he struggled with it and it changed him ... and pouf ! he's gone and we never heard of him again like he never existed. Lyla Garrity was getting involved with some Christian lunatics, as happens to a lot of teenagers. She was actually thanking Jesus for food prior to eating. Pouf ! she's no longer involved, nobody knows why she left.
This continues into season four where we got a deluge of social issues coming up. School split into two. Problematic teenagers. Star quarterback is friends with drug dealers. Mother is an addict. Father is an ex-con. Everything, absolutely everything gets resolved with a happy ending and/or is swept under the rug.
In season 2, coach Taylor comes back to the team to be with his family, and he leads to the other coach being fired in the process. It's really too easy ... the other coach who is fired is shown as somebody who deserves to be fired regardless, so Taylor is not the enemy for having him fired. He comes back for one last season when moving away, to say that it sucks to be fired, he never thought another coach would do this to him, it's a fair very human scene. It's a good scene. He says to Coach Taylor that he will suffer for this, but we don't see any consequences to these actions so whatever.
There's an interesting storyline setup with J.D McCoy in season 3. He's an ultra-talented, ultra-shy kid, who knows only football (the video game Madden is his top hobby) with a bully of a father. Great setup. Interesting. Outstanding ! And then it gets resolved easily. In season 3 he has a nervous meltdown in the last game, and in season 4 he comes back as a spoiled brat. He sexually assaults Julie Taylor, he's causing property damage all around the city, his parents get divorced, he's defeated in the last game of season 4 and we never hear of him again. I'll also note it's a casting problem that they cast an actor with spaghetti arms to play J.D. McCoy, we keep being told has an exceptional arm and can throw 70 yard passes.
There's a weird storyline involving Luke Cafferty. He's the second best player on the best high school team in Texas, the top Football state in the country. And there is no legitimate college that wants him for NCAA. WTF?
As you can tell I think this show would have benefited from fewer storylines with each remaining storyline done better, deeper, and longer.
Throughout this all there is some positive. The acting is very good. The series finale does a good deal of tying up the loose ends. It's not obvious how seasons 1, 2, 3, 4 are going to end. There's also a whole lot of really sweet moments between the characters that are very well thought out. For example, I like the one in season 5 where all of the teenage boys are discussing things in their hotel balcony, and the coach is in earshot but out of sight. There's a lot of warmth from the Taylor family that comes through. The jokes are often really funny without being excessive or dumb slapstick humour.
DAChampion
Registered User
- May 28, 2011
- 30,222
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I think I accidentally recommended a movie to you lol. I enjoyed it a lot. A lot of people did not. I am guessing you will not.
But ... if you watch it, when you're done watching it, highlite these spoilers:
MoS had consequences, but in a different way than what you meant, I think? Really it had enough to infuriate the fanbase due to not enough dominance from the hero, but there still are a lot of loose ends and stuff swept under the rug.
I may be drawing a blank, but of all recent superhero/scifi/fantasy blockbuster cinema, the only place you'll find consequences are:
Hunger Games 1+2
Rise of the Planet of the Apes -> Dawn of the Planet of the Apes
Legend of Korra
Enough writing for the weekend. Bye guys.
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QuebecPride
Registered User
I believe Mcconaughey is quite religious, so it's kind of ironic to see him portrait such a character.
In the Dark Knight Returns (often regarded as one the best Batman graphic novels out there), Batman fights Sups in the day time.
WhiskeySeven*
Expect the expected
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Sounds alright, but graphic novels and movies are soooooo different in so many ways. And Batman's MO was established in Batman Begins and then completely torn apart in TDKR because Nolan wanted to shove in some libertarian commentary on the Occupy movement or something.
The movies established a lot of realist elements, it was grimdark and self-serious and mostly devoid of humour so it's not a surprise when the audience is shocked and turned off by so many silly elements jam packed into a 3 hour movie with 30min of Batman.
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