What TV Series Are You Currently Watching Recently Watched
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- Feb 6, 2014
- 7,228
- 6,537
Peasy
Registered User
Just finished adolescence.
Really great mini-series that puts focus on what a lot of young men today have to grow up with and how it can cause them to become radicalized misogynists, or more simply put, red pilled.
If you have young kids you should watch this series.
Really great mini-series that puts focus on what a lot of young men today have to grow up with and how it can cause them to become radicalized misogynists, or more simply put, red pilled.
If you have young kids you should watch this series.
Just finished Invincible. I'm a bit lukewarm on it. Like it handles mature themes in the scope a non traditional superhero narrative in a strong way and the character work is usually fairly strong. This feels like a different approach to what The Boys sets out to do, in subverting the superhero genre. This isn't a universe where the "heroes" are actually villains (for the most part) but it's similarly dark and even more violent.
But I think that's part of the rub for me. Invincible, as a character, is essentially Superman if Superman's adversity was turned up to 11. I get that the point of much of the show is testing not the invincibility of Mark's body, but of his spirit and convictions. That's not new ground for the superhero genre. The distinction is that Invincible and the other heroes have to face what the MCU would call an "Avengers level threat" every episode. Ranging from godzilla level threats on the low end to threats that would make Thanos blush.
I don't mind gore and violence and I understand that Kirkman was going for severe trauma and stakes beyond what we could fathom in the real world, but the emphasis on violent slaughter of innocent civilians in so many scenes really becomes exhausting at some point in tandem with how this show never leaves the heroes any real time to breathe before it's time to take on the latest mega threat of the week. By the time I got to the mid point of season 3 I felt just worn out and disinterested in seeing more of the same.
A superhero that faces no adversity is boring. A superhero that exists solely to endure progressively insane hardships and adversity, it turns out-at least for me-is also boring. Yeah season 3 showed cracks in Invincible's moral convictions but on the whole there's no concern that Mark is ever seriously going to turn super villain. So his story ultimately becomes long form misery porn. And after making myself stomach the last two episodes, I'm not sure I have it in me to watch future seasons.
It's still an impressively made animated superhero show and I believe it has merit, I've just reached a point where I personally don't have much interest left in continuing.
But I think that's part of the rub for me. Invincible, as a character, is essentially Superman if Superman's adversity was turned up to 11. I get that the point of much of the show is testing not the invincibility of Mark's body, but of his spirit and convictions. That's not new ground for the superhero genre. The distinction is that Invincible and the other heroes have to face what the MCU would call an "Avengers level threat" every episode. Ranging from godzilla level threats on the low end to threats that would make Thanos blush.
I don't mind gore and violence and I understand that Kirkman was going for severe trauma and stakes beyond what we could fathom in the real world, but the emphasis on violent slaughter of innocent civilians in so many scenes really becomes exhausting at some point in tandem with how this show never leaves the heroes any real time to breathe before it's time to take on the latest mega threat of the week. By the time I got to the mid point of season 3 I felt just worn out and disinterested in seeing more of the same.
A superhero that faces no adversity is boring. A superhero that exists solely to endure progressively insane hardships and adversity, it turns out-at least for me-is also boring. Yeah season 3 showed cracks in Invincible's moral convictions but on the whole there's no concern that Mark is ever seriously going to turn super villain. So his story ultimately becomes long form misery porn. And after making myself stomach the last two episodes, I'm not sure I have it in me to watch future seasons.
It's still an impressively made animated superhero show and I believe it has merit, I've just reached a point where I personally don't have much interest left in continuing.
End of Line
Registered User
- Mar 20, 2009
- 24,728
- 2,382
Just started Goliath on Prime. How I’ve never come across this before idk but I love it. Top notch acting. BBT & William Hurt in the same show?
Finally gave Shrinking another chance. My debilitating obsession with Severance started because I couldn't get into Shrinking right away.
I think my problem is this show suffers from the same kind of atmosphere you get from Ted Lasso. Where it's a comedy with higher than usual production values, fewer jokes per minute than a sitcom, smarter episodic writing and some heavy dramatic moments sprinkled throughout but a good chunk of the dialogue ends up feeling surreal. Like authentic dialgoue and character interaction but adjacent. A lot of sitcoms lean heavy into this vibe of "people don't really talk or act like this, it's just for the audience's amusement" but shows like Lasso and Shrinking try to present a more realistic and grounded form of conversational comedy where the characters are too quirky to be realistic but not enough of a caricature to be excusably absurd. I'm trying my best to describe it and this is the best I can come up with. Something about that tone turned me off on the first go around.
I think as the actors starting getting more comfortable in their roles, this dynamic wasn't as pronounced which let me enjoy it more. This might be one of my favorite Harrison Ford roles outside of my namesake. He's a delight every time he's on screen. I don't know that I'd call this one of the great comedies of all time by any means but it's a decent comfort comedy with some solid dramatic writing.
I think my problem is this show suffers from the same kind of atmosphere you get from Ted Lasso. Where it's a comedy with higher than usual production values, fewer jokes per minute than a sitcom, smarter episodic writing and some heavy dramatic moments sprinkled throughout but a good chunk of the dialogue ends up feeling surreal. Like authentic dialgoue and character interaction but adjacent. A lot of sitcoms lean heavy into this vibe of "people don't really talk or act like this, it's just for the audience's amusement" but shows like Lasso and Shrinking try to present a more realistic and grounded form of conversational comedy where the characters are too quirky to be realistic but not enough of a caricature to be excusably absurd. I'm trying my best to describe it and this is the best I can come up with. Something about that tone turned me off on the first go around.
I think as the actors starting getting more comfortable in their roles, this dynamic wasn't as pronounced which let me enjoy it more. This might be one of my favorite Harrison Ford roles outside of my namesake. He's a delight every time he's on screen. I don't know that I'd call this one of the great comedies of all time by any means but it's a decent comfort comedy with some solid dramatic writing.
flyersnorth
Registered User
- Oct 7, 2019
- 4,385
- 6,761
Almost through Ripley. What a great slow burn of a show. Cinematography is award-level. Dialog is minimalist and that adds tension and weight.
NyQuil
Big F$&*in Q
I think Shrinking has some of the best comedic writing on TV right now.
Sure, people don't exactly talk like that, and everyone seems to have an infinite reservoir of witty or lewd repartee (see Gilmore Girls), but that's what makes it more of a comedy than something like the Bear which for reason wins Golden Globes in the comedy category when none of the leads really do any comedy at all.
Everyone brings something to the table, with Jessica Williams, Harrison Ford and Christa Miller as the standouts IMO.
I ripped through about three episodes of season 2 last night and it feels like it's picked up a fair bit in quality.
I'm not sure I described my point as well as I could have though. It's not so much the mere fact that the characters are, at times, overly quirky. Something like Gilmore Girls is like intentional with rapid fire wit and snark. Just like something like Barry is a dark comedy that is really more of a dark drama with some comedy thrown in for levity. Shrinking to me feels like a blend of an Apatow "This is 40" and a show like Modern Family only with more edge. I don't know if there's an industry term for the genre but I'd call it modern conversational comedy with some wider dramatic points to fit the therapy premise. So something like the White Lotus relies on modern conversational comedy with a murder mystery backdrop, but I feel like the White Lotus doesn't dial the quirkiness factor up as much to supplement the conversational comedic writing. It relies more on the writing of the dialogue itself. I think my problem was that for the start of Shrinking and to a lesser extent, throughout season 1 there were just moments where I as the viewer felt like the majority of the scenarios and conversations were realistic in a contemporary way, but the quirk factor would break the sense of reality at times.
My point was in shows like say, The Office, Parks and Rec, Veep, Seinfeld, or even Curb Your Enthusiasm, the characters in the show routinely act over the top and beyond what you expect from normal human interactions for the sake of filling an episode with comedic scenarios and dialogue. And that's digestible because it's expected once the show sets the toner for how its characters interact. A show like Shrinking is very intentional in trying to draw humor out of very authentic and real feeling contemporary conversations. It lands more often than it doesn't, I'll give the show credit. But sometimes either an actor's quirkiness or a line that is written for them steps out of bounds of what feels real and honest and it kind of breaks the immersion for me. Season 2 I haven't noticed that nearly as much if at all really.
Now that I'm eleven episodes deep, I can give it some flowers though. The heavier dramatic stuff and exploration of human psychology is a really compelling hook without miring the show in the bleak realities of trauma and anxiety. Those themes and subjects are presented but in a way that looks to the positives of overcoming the issues without deflecting too much of the suffering aspect back at the viewer. While the show is tropey in the sense that it feels like the core cast exists in too much of a bubble where they all essentially see each other every day, the writing and acting behind the relationships is strong. And yeah I think this is a well cast and well acted show overall (he may not be a standout compared to others but I really enjoy Jason Segel as the lead) and there were a number of moments that made me laugh out loud, the slight majority of them coming from Harrison Ford but "Got it. Eat a dick Pam!" has been etched into my brain the past few days.
Also yes. The Bear as a comedy, at least for awards purposes, is a joke.. no pun intended. It's a procedural drama with some humorous moments written in from time to time. It's very good. But it's a stretch to say it's in the comedy genre.
Fallow period for movies, so catching up with series from streaming services:
Shogun: deserves every single accolade that it has received. Memorable story, excellent script, top notch production values, interesting characters, and superb acting.
Adolescence: An absolutely mammoth power house of a mini-series, emotionally devastating and long lingering. While I am not a wholehearted fan of the "shot-in-a-single-take" approach (only the movie Victoria ever got that right), the four separate but deeply connected episodes each in its way delivered their own brand of jaw-dropping intensity.
Severance: I think it worked so well for me because it seemed like something new under the sun, an ongoing story like nothing that I could ever have imagined. A lot of loose ends going into Season Three, maybe too many for justice to be done, but the series gets full points from me for narrative originality.
1883: I've never watched a single episode of Yellowstone, but this caught my eye because of Sam Elliot, who really looks the part here. Though it has some pacing problems here and there and has a really odd way of portraying indigenous people, the series is very much character-driven with a breakout performance by young actress Isabel May. I liked its humanist messaging and the way that it is, like most classic Westerns, a morality play as well as a good yarn.
Shogun: deserves every single accolade that it has received. Memorable story, excellent script, top notch production values, interesting characters, and superb acting.
Adolescence: An absolutely mammoth power house of a mini-series, emotionally devastating and long lingering. While I am not a wholehearted fan of the "shot-in-a-single-take" approach (only the movie Victoria ever got that right), the four separate but deeply connected episodes each in its way delivered their own brand of jaw-dropping intensity.
Severance: I think it worked so well for me because it seemed like something new under the sun, an ongoing story like nothing that I could ever have imagined. A lot of loose ends going into Season Three, maybe too many for justice to be done, but the series gets full points from me for narrative originality.
1883: I've never watched a single episode of Yellowstone, but this caught my eye because of Sam Elliot, who really looks the part here. Though it has some pacing problems here and there and has a really odd way of portraying indigenous people, the series is very much character-driven with a breakout performance by young actress Isabel May. I liked its humanist messaging and the way that it is, like most classic Westerns, a morality play as well as a good yarn.
Bruins4Lifer
Registered User
Isn't it a ~30 min/episode show? Those always get thrown into the comedy category.
NyQuil
Big F$&*in Q
It varies a fair amount (from 20-66 minutes) but for the most part it is in that 30 to 45 minute range.
Jussi
Registered User
While I like the show, I do agree that the constant gore and civilian deaths has become numbing. And the characters surviving after being beaten to a literal pulp, like Angstrom Levy. Also, the hyperbole around the season 3 finale is ridiculous.
Yeah my YouTube feed was filled with click bait videos of how it is a masterpiece and changes animation or the super hero genre forever. Like...no? I mean sure the animated action was incredible. But like...it was a higher budget version of the Invincible-Omni Man fight with
a "better" outcome
Jeffrey Dean Morgan's voice work was pretty top notch but Conquest amounted to little more than "what if Omni-Man was crazier?" The Atom Eve sequence of the fight was probably the best part but that still literally ends in a huge plot armor moment.
Jussi
Registered User
Yeah, I mean it has 9.9 score at IMDB with over 68K votes and the reviews are exactly like you described. I thought the season finale was good, I'd give it a 8½ or 9, the added dialogue JDM did for Conquest was dark as hell but...I mean animation is one of the weaker points of the show at times. I felt X-men '97 and What If...? are much better when it comes to animation quality, their styles provided amazing action sequences and fights. Not forgetting Arcane of course.
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Well back to Shrinking. I think there's a dedicated thread but I don't like necrobumping.
All caught up now. Season 1 was pretty good. In spite of my gripes. Season 2 is outstanding.
More for anyone who's actually watched but I'll keep the spoiler tag for anyone who still wants to
All caught up now. Season 1 was pretty good. In spite of my gripes. Season 2 is outstanding.
More for anyone who's actually watched but I'll keep the spoiler tag for anyone who still wants to
Man I'm not the type to tear up or cry too often with movies or TV at this age, but this season got me twice in the span of two episodes. Jimmy letting it all go and apologizing properly to Alice was so f***ing well written and so well acted. I try not to let my vulnerability out on the internet where no one's asking for it but I understood so well that feeling of regret and self hatred. You can't start to forgive yourself until you fully face that past trauma and that was so well incorporated over the course of these two seasons.
Then Paul's Thanksgiving speech I feel like it's self explanatory. Harrison Ford is so f***ing electric in this role when he needs to be. Seriously genius casting.
Then Paul's Thanksgiving speech I feel like it's self explanatory. Harrison Ford is so f***ing electric in this role when he needs to be. Seriously genius casting.
