OT: The Movie/TV/Streaming Thread

[LegionOfDoom91]

Anyone else watching The Last of Us season 2?

For the most part, the writers seemed to have f***ed this up pretty badly. Far too often, the writing consists of “tell” and not “show.” Quite a few key moments from the game were adapted and ruined by the primary writer Craig Mazin’s need to spell things out for the audience (i.e. “tell”). They even managed to make Jesse annoying and he’s anything but in the game.

Playing through the game, I didn’t start to actively dislike Ellie until the latter parts of the game. They’ve made her extremely unlikable in the TV adaptation in season 2.

I’m kind of losing interest to be honest. Now they’re saying it’s going to take two more seasons to finish the story. The pacing is way too slow for me personally.

 

[TB87]

I’m kind of losing interest to be honest. Now they’re saying it’s going to take two more seasons to finish the story. The pacing is way too slow for me personally.

Same. Way too slow. The game was great but I definitely came away from it thinking it’d be so much harder to adapt well because the story is significantly more sprawling than the 1st game. My concerns have been well-founded seems like

 

[flyersnorth]

Same. Way too slow. The game was great but I definitely came away from it thinking it’d be so much harder to adapt well because the story is significantly more sprawling than the 1st game. My concerns have been well-founded seems like

It also feels like a teen drama. The writing is awful.

I really enjoyed season 1, even if Ellie made it borderline unwatchable for me. This season, I've had enough of her and tuned out after episode 2.

 

[BackToTheBrierePatch]

We watched Companion over the weekend. What a twisted f***ed up that movie was.

 

[trostol]

woke up in time for the Bastogne episode of Band of Brothers...such a great but brutal episode

 

[trostol]

 

[LegionOfDoom91]

Same. Way too slow. The game was great but I definitely came away from it thinking it’d be so much harder to adapt well because the story is significantly more sprawling than the 1st game. My concerns have been well-founded seems like

I dont know why they showed Abby so little in this season especially after the initial major plot point. It just seems like a major gamble for people who are new to this to not divulge more into her background & further explain her motivations/character arch. I get that’s the plan for season 3. But you might have just made people who aren’t predisposed to this lose interest potentially by not building another main character to fill the void.

On top of generally making Ellie not likeable & Tommy neutered in the show.

 

[Magua]

Anyone else watching The Last of Us season 2?

For the most part, the writers seemed to have f***ed this up pretty badly. Far too often, the writing consists of “tell” and not “show.” Quite a few key moments from the game were adapted and ruined by the primary writer Craig Mazin’s need to spell things out for the audience (i.e. “tell”). They even managed to make Jesse annoying and he’s anything but in the game.

Playing through the game, I didn’t start to actively dislike Ellie until the latter parts of the game. They’ve made her extremely unlikable in the TV adaptation in season 2.

I didn’t play the games, although I know certain plot points, but I still enjoyed this season as a TV show. I’ve never been a purist with adaptations though. It wasn’t as good as season 1, but that was a complete story with more structured episodes. This felt like half a season, on purpose. I am skeptical this can’t be completed in a normal 9-10 episode 3rd season. Otherwise you’re at risk of ruining narrative momentum.

I definitely didn’t feel that way about Jesse as a TV character though. Young Mazino has been terrific. Droll, caring, but deservedly fed up with Ellie’s BS. Thought they nailed casting with Jesse and Dina.

My issue was with the tonality at times. I thought it usually coincided with how dark the story was. Some of the lighter beats post-Jackson felt….off. Like too cutesy. A line or a line reading. Part of that is shifting the Dina romance. Except for the second to last episode which struck the perfect balance, and maybe that’s a problem the show has: it’s a lot more sure of itself tonally when Joel is around. It was uncanny how well Bella Ramsey slipped back into younger Ellie in the museum scene. It felt like it was filmed 3 years ago. The lodge scene, the hospital, the porch scene with Joel…..phenomenal performance work. It felt like a directing/showrunner issue to me not striking a balance.

I think one of the best moments this season of showing and not telling Ellie’s psychology was when she picked up the guitar in the theater, started to strum, then you hear explosions in the distance, and she sets it down. I think “show not tell” gets oversimplified though to the point I don’t always know what it means. Knowing Abby’s motivation from the jump works for me for episodic TV.

Kaitlyn Dever is going to, uh, kill it next season. I’m sure of that.

 

[TB87]

I didn’t play the games, although I know certain plot points, but I still enjoyed this season as a TV show. I’ve never been a purist with adaptations though. It wasn’t as good as season 1, but that was a complete story with more structured episodes. This felt like half a season, on purpose. I am skeptical this can’t be completed in a normal 9-10 episode 3rd season. Otherwise you’re at risk of ruining narrative momentum.

I definitely didn’t feel that way about Jesse as a TV character though. Young Mazino has been terrific. Droll, caring, but deservedly fed up with Ellie’s BS. Thought they nailed casting with Jesse and Dina.

My issue was with the tonality at times. I thought it usually coincided with how dark the story was. Some of the lighter beats post-Jackson felt….off. Like too cutesy. A line or a line reading. Part of that is shifting the Dina romance. Except for the second to last episode which struck the perfect balance, and maybe that’s a problem the show has: it’s a lot more sure of itself tonally when Joel is around. It was uncanny how well Bella Ramsey slipped back into younger Ellie in the museum scene. It felt like it was filmed 3 years ago. The lodge scene, the hospital, the porch scene with Joel…..phenomenal performance work. It felt like a directing/showrunner issue to me not striking a balance.

I think one of the best moments this season of showing and not telling Ellie’s psychology was when she picked up the guitar in the theater, started to strum, then you hear explosions in the distance, and she sets it down. I think “show not tell” gets oversimplified though to the point I don’t always know what it means. Knowing Abby’s motivation from the jump works for me for episodic TV.

Kaitlyn Dever is going to, uh, kill it next season. I’m sure of that.

I really liked Episode 2 and Episode 8. Ditto the performances and casting of Jesse and Dina.

More often than not, I found myself profoundly bored in the other episodes. I don’t need frequent action like the games, but man, I need interesting narrative momentum.

It’s not their fault, but Bella Ramsey isn’t believable in the scenes where Ellie is supposed to menacing/terrifying. They just aren’t menacing since they still look like they’re 11.

 

[Lord Defect]

Anyone else watching The Last of Us season 2?

For the most part, the writers seemed to have f***ed this up pretty badly. Far too often, the writing consists of “tell” and not “show.” Quite a few key moments from the game were adapted and ruined by the primary writer Craig Mazin’s need to spell things out for the audience (i.e. “tell”). They even managed to make Jesse annoying and he’s anything but in the game.

Playing through the game, I didn’t start to actively dislike Ellie until the latter parts of the game. They’ve made her extremely unlikable in the TV adaptation in season 2.

She’s been wholly unlikeable though the entire show. I’ve never played the second game so I have no stance there but god she’s been a terrible character that I’m apparently supposed to care about. She’s at Holden caulfield levels of I actively cannot stand nothing.

 

[Lord Defect]

I didn’t play the games, although I know certain plot points, but I still enjoyed this season as a TV show. I’ve never been a purist with adaptations though. It wasn’t as good as season 1, but that was a complete story with more structured episodes. This felt like half a season, on purpose. I am skeptical this can’t be completed in a normal 9-10 episode 3rd season. Otherwise you’re at risk of ruining narrative momentum.

I definitely didn’t feel that way about Jesse as a TV character though. Young Mazino has been terrific. Droll, caring, but deservedly fed up with Ellie’s BS. Thought they nailed casting with Jesse and Dina.

My issue was with the tonality at times. I thought it usually coincided with how dark the story was. Some of the lighter beats post-Jackson felt….off. Like too cutesy. A line or a line reading. Part of that is shifting the Dina romance. Except for the second to last episode which struck the perfect balance, and maybe that’s a problem the show has: it’s a lot more sure of itself tonally when Joel is around. It was uncanny how well Bella Ramsey slipped back into younger Ellie in the museum scene. It felt like it was filmed 3 years ago. The lodge scene, the hospital, the porch scene with Joel…..phenomenal performance work. It felt like a directing/showrunner issue to me not striking a balance.

I think one of the best moments this season of showing and not telling Ellie’s psychology was when she picked up the guitar in the theater, started to strum, then you hear explosions in the distance, and she sets it down. I think “show not tell” gets oversimplified though to the point I don’t always know what it means. Knowing Abby’s motivation from the jump works for me for episodic TV.

Kaitlyn Dever is going to, uh, kill it next season. I’m sure of that.

It’s kind of crazy because I loved her in game of thrones. I do not care about her at all in this show. I cannot think of a main character in tv medium that I care less about. I don’t even think it’s her performance.

 

[Magua]

More often than not, I found myself profoundly bored in the other episodes. I don’t need frequent action like the games, but man, I need interesting narrative momentum.

It’s not their fault, but Bella Ramsey isn’t believable in the scenes where Ellie is supposed to menacing/terrifying. They just aren’t menacing since they still look like they’re 11.

I found the hospital basement scene very menacing actually. It’s an iciness they should’ve played up more. Or the pure rage in episode 2. That’s where I’m not sure it’s that Bella Ramsey is incapable. There are certain choices where it veers into teeny petulance? Like her discussion with Jesse on the roof. I watched the clip from the game, and it was more subdued. That’s where I think the directing hasn’t done any favors. Druckmann directed episode 6, and I think Ellie’s (older) character felt more cohesive in those scenes. She nailed the quieter somber scenes at the end.

A major thing between a game and show is the amount of violence. She’s not actually required to kill 500 people/infected. Maybe it’s just a creative decision that she feels more like a child out of her depth in the show? You felt that in the aquarium scene, which even gamers seem to think was an improvement.

I really haven’t been bored though. I think a lot of the set pieces have hit each episode. It’s funny going into the spoiler vs. non-spoiler Reddit pages and seeing the quasi-toxic negativity (not you) vs. people just enjoying it for what it is and memeing. Lot of people had that toxicity with the game too though.

It’s kind of crazy because I loved her in game of thrones. I do not care about her at all in this show. I cannot think of a main character in tv medium that I care less about. I don’t even think it’s her performance.

I feel like the point is your sympathies are increasingly more about the supporting characters caught up in her revenge quest. Everything Ellie does is reckless and foolish and puts people at risk. Not care about her? I don’t feel that. It’s just complicated.

 

[TB87]

I found the hospital basement scene very menacing actually. It’s an iciness they should’ve played up more. Or the pure rage in episode 2. That’s where I’m not sure it’s that Bella Ramsey is incapable. There are certain choices where it veers into teeny petulance? Like her discussion with Jesse on the roof. I watched the clip from the game, and it was more subdued. That’s where I think the directing hasn’t done any favors. Druckmann directed episode 6, and I think Ellie’s (older) character felt more cohesive in those scenes. She nailed the quieter somber scenes at the end.

A major thing between a game and show is the amount of violence. She’s not actually required to kill 500 people/infected. Maybe it’s just a creative decision that she feels more like a child out of her depth in the show? You felt that in the aquarium scene, which even gamers seem to think was an improvement.

I really haven’t been bored though. I think a lot of the set pieces have hit each episode. It’s funny going into the spoiler vs. non-spoiler Reddit pages and seeing the quasi-toxic negativity (not you) vs. people just enjoying it for what it is and memeing. Lot of people had that toxicity with the game too though.



I feel like the point is your sympathies are increasingly more about the supporting characters caught up in her revenge quest. Everything Ellie does is reckless and foolish and puts people at risk. Not care about her? I don’t feel that. It’s just complicated.

It’s possibly that the teeny petulance is a creative decision.

I did think the aquarium scene was better on the show than in the game.

Spoiler: Spoiler

[a lack of dog killing is always nice.]

 

[Rebels57]

Anyone else watching The Last of Us season 2?

For the most part, the writers seemed to have f***ed this up pretty badly. Far too often, the writing consists of “tell” and not “show.” Quite a few key moments from the game were adapted and ruined by the primary writer Craig Mazin’s need to spell things out for the audience (i.e. “tell”). They even managed to make Jesse annoying and he’s anything but in the game.

Playing through the game, I didn’t start to actively dislike Ellie until the latter parts of the game. They’ve made her extremely unlikable in the TV adaptation in season 2.

Pretty much this. Not only did the fumble Ellie's casting, they have now fumbled her writing. Craig Mazin has done a piss-poor job at adapting the 2nd game to the screen. Also, he seems to have forgotten the existence of the zombies/clickers. They are barely a factor since the big attack on Jackson early in the season. The 2nd game being split up into 2 seasons with the first one only 7 episodes is absurd. So much more happens in the game but he seemed like he was in a rush to get through it. Don't think he understands or respects the source material at all...especially when it comes to Ellie. He wrote her like an incompetent, immature child that never thinks before acting. She's anything but that in the game.