Whatcha Been Watching?

[JaySevenZero]

Appleseed is another where there's about 4 or 5 different animated adaptations and none of them are the same continuity...

The first Patlabor is a genuine classic, I'm not *as* keen on the others though.

You even seen Avalon Jay? If you can get to see it, try to avoid the US release because they did a Blade Runner and added a narrator to explain whats going on and it kinda ruins it. One of those where figuring out what's actually going on is the point of the movie.

Yeah, I have a couple of his live action films, Avalon and Tachiguishi Retsuden (Amazing Lives of the Fast Food Grifters). I like Avalon, although I think with better actors and a little more budget it could have been something really special. In truth though, I find a lot of Oshii's stuff from the last 15 years a little too heavy on the philosophical ruminations. Which is why I like the first two Patlabor films (I prefer the second one overall - I just found the premise more interesting than the first), the third Patlabor film is more of a police procedural/monster movie (and a major influence of the Korean movie 'The Host') and only marginally connected to the other two.

As for Appleseed, I was thinking more for it being a better example of Shirow's manga work than the films. Although with the films, of which there are four, I've often found them quite enjoyable. The first, which was released in 1988, was made using traditional cell animation and is definitely looking it's age nowadays. For me though, the Second (which was the first one done in CG) was my favourite as it stayed faithful to the manga and was followed closely by the third film. The fourth film is still connected to the other two but is more of a prequel, going back to the characters time before the found the city of Olympus. Whilst all three films are meant to be in the same continuity, the problem is that the animation style changes quite considerably across the three films with some of the characters (particularly Deunan Knute) changing quite radically between the three films.

[JaySevenZero]

Actually, I think that one of Oshii's very best works would be Jin Roh: The Wolf Brigade, a mature (not in a sexual sense but in its overall tone) and very sombre film set in a parallel 1950s Japan, in which Germany had conquered Japan. It was only written by Oshii (who had already directed two live action films based in this setting all of which are based on his own Kerberos Saga manga) The animation, by Production I. G. is of their usual impressive quality. Funnily enough, Guerrilla Games has often been accused of plagiarising this work for the look of Killzone's Helghast.

[macstat]

Few days ago i renewed my Netflix subscription and started watching "Marco Polo" cause i was really interested in seeing how mongols were portrayed.
I really enjoyed first season, costumes and overall look is very good. Plot is interesting, actors play their parts well, and i love how every now and then you can feel a huge gap between European and Mongol cultures. Its best seen in some conversations between Marco and Khublai where you can see that one side just don't understand why other could ask something like that.

Just dont expect to be consistent with your history books It shares main events, characters but when it comes to details there's a lot of fiction.

[Todinho]

So Red Letter media released a review on the Force Awakens,for those that dont know they are the guys that made those gargantuan prequel reviews deconstructing them and explaining why they turned out so poorly,in this review the talk not only about the new movie but the state of star wars in general it's really great,the humor might be problematic for many in fact it definitly will be but the analisys is spot on especially that part at the end that I didnt catch before but it's totally true looking back,worth a watch:

[Bakers_12]

Watched a last episode of Twin Peaks s2 and its got me really excited for the new ones. Almost feels like it was planed to wait all this time to make it!

[Combine Hunter]

Westworld.

If you're into Video Games, you should probably check out HBO's latest, created by Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy Nolan. It takes inspiration from the 1973 original film, but is really its own thing in the same way the Fargo TV show is. There is a lot of smart video game commentary in this show, stuff I've frankly not seen in any TV or movie like this. There is a speech Anthony Hopkins gives at the end of episode 2, that you could imagine someone like Miyamoto giving.

Plus, it's subtle, and willing to trust its audience. It's a slow burner, but in the best possible way. Only two episodes so far, so it could fall to pieces, but highly recommended so far.

[Todinho]

Finnished Luke Cage and after a really strong first half the show kinda started falling apart after the halfway point and that's where it was supposed to get better! but it just became kinda boring especially Luke's relationship with Claire and it doesnt help that Misty knight kinda starts having more screen time then Luke himself,I felt the villains were really strong though and to be honest the antagonists are alot more developed and well acted then any of the protagonists especially Black Mariah. By the end though I was just wanting it to end already especially the last episode which is really bad and it looked like something outta the Flash tv show(which is a bad tv show I dont the praise). Still worth watching especially for the first 5 episodes but I think it's the weakest of the Marvel Netflix shows I've seen even Daredevil season 2 is better because that at least has the punisher in it despite it's dumb ninjas and Elektra.

[Suits]

Yeah, I'm thoroughy enjoying Westworld too.

Before we watched the HBO series, I made the Wife watch the 1973 original with me, which I love.

She thought it was odd, lol.

[Alex79]

Just watched Man Vs Snake on Netflix, the story of a guy chasing the Nibbler arcade game high score. I really enjoyed it. If you liked the King Of Kong, you'll love it.

[eastmcduck]

My girlfriend and I recently started watching Bob's Burgers and instantly got hooked into binge watching the entire series. It's exactly our flavor of awkward.

[Bakers_12]

Just finished watching Stranger things and would recomend it. gripping story, uniformly very good acting and like how the 80's setting isn't all "oh look a rubix cube"

[ThirdDrawing]

I watched the Young Ones for the first time recently.

Now I'm making my way through It's Gary Shandling's Show.

[Scrustle]

Watched the Psycho-Pass Movie not too long ago. I was looking forward to it quite a lot, especially after the second series missing the mark a bit, since this film is supposedly where the people who wrote the first series went on to instead. After letting it sink in for a bit, I think that this movie is somewhat disappointing too. On the one hand, it does avoid some of the problems of series 2 by not simply trying to rehash the same story from series 1. It's in a very different setting and brings up some new ideas to apply to its fiction, with it exploring how applying the Sybil System in to an unstable country that's deep in conflict between a dictator and a guerrilla militant group. The thing is that it never really explores that idea much. It mostly just sticks to the core plot, instead of delving in to the societal implications that situation could bring. They touch on it at some points, but it never goes far. Perhaps a problem with the limited run time of a film compared to the show.

Other problems are reminiscent of series 2 though. There's little character development, with all the characters ending up in more or less the same place they were at the start, despite the film focusing on a pretty small number of characters in the wider cast of the show. It also sorely lacks a compelling villain. Nothing like Makishima; someone intelligent and complex, with their own motives and goals that put them in conflict with Sybil, while also exposing something about it and its flaws. It's a shame, since a charismatic despot could fill that role really well, yet the dictator character is barely even in the film at all, let alone displaying any kind of personality. The ending feels a bit abrupt to. I suppose perhaps it's because I was still waiting for the interesting stuff to happen, but at the end it seems like it pulls a few strings to wrap things up as soon as it can. Not exactly deus ex machina, since it doesn't do anything that breaks its own fiction. Just feels like they kind of cheat over a story beat instead of allowing it to play out naturally.

So yeah, right now I'm not feeling too great about Psycho-Pass as a wider media property. It's such a shame, since that first series was so damn good. One of the best animes of recent times. I still love it. Definitely had potential to grow in to something with much more staying power, maybe even to the level of Ghost in the Shell. It's take on cyberpunk that focuses more on social engineering rather than robots and such is such a great idea, and very relevant to how technology has been evolving lately. Yet so far it's missed more than it's hit, and it's beginning to look like a one-trick pony.

[Todinho]

I think much of the problems you had really did come from the limited run time that the movie had to contend with,they really couldnt explore all the dynamincs that the setting demands because of how little time there was,compare it to season 1 where they had many episodes to expand and create the world and you see how it would be hard to really flesh out a new setting in so little time.
Personally I was mostly happy with what the did in the movie it captured the essence of series well ,but to your point I'd argue that Psycho-Pass was always a one trick pony,what I mean by that is that the entire crux of the series is the question of morality,can you quantify and systemize that,etc. In that sense you're not likely to get a better or even equal antagonist as Makishima because he was the perfect foil to that,the one who exposed and threw the systems hypocrisy back in it's face. When you already adressed the central theme so well I think it's difficult to keep revisiting the world without becaming redundant like season 2,the movie opens up possibilities to expand that into other settings but I think part of what makes the series great is how it's also a bit of a subtle critique of current japanese society as well and the creators have a good handle on that.

If you really liked the writing and questions of season 1 though I highly recommend cheking out the rest of Gen Urobuchi's work,he writes a variety of different shows but so far I havent seen a single work where he was a part of that wasnt thought provoking or interesting like Psycho-Pass was.

[Scrustle]

Psycho-Pass was always intended to be more than one series though. Production I.G created it because they wanted their own franchise that they could own and grow how they wanted, keeping control, unlike most of the stuff they do where they're working with existing IPs.

But you hit the nail right on the head with how they explored their premise so well with the first series, with the perfect antagonist to do that. It's hard to top that when you do so well the first time out. But still, I think they could do more. GitS manages to run for years and years, still finding new ways to explore its setting (or maybe that's finally come to the end of its tether too, judging by the lukewarm reception to Arise), and that's set in pretty well covered ground these days. Psycho-Pass is covering topics which are less well worn, and I think the setting they created with this film would have been an excellent thing to explore if they had the time to.

I've heard say Gen Urobuchi is worth checking out before, when looking up stuff about Psyho-Pass. Haven't looked in to him yet, but I'll definitely try to get around to it at some point. There's so much anime that I've been meaning to get around to though. The list of stuff I need to watch is getting pretty long.

[Alex79]

Finally got around to watching season 2 of Better Call Saul. Yep, it's still good.

[gallo_pinto]

Finally got around to watching season 2 of Better Call Saul. Yep, it's still good.

I'm with you, Better Call Saul is really, really good. Season 2 made Kim more of a character (and she's great!) and I think they found the right tone. Most of the Mike stuff takes on a more Breaking Bad tone and the Jimmy stuff maintains the more comedic nature of Season 1. Bob Odenkirk is great.

[Alex79]

Yeah, some great characters in that show, and everyone loves Mike, right? Hoping in another season or two they start introducing some Breaking Bad crossover all seen from Jimmy's perspective.

[ThirdDrawing]

I'm going through Ghost in the Shell Stand Alone Complex again. (The movie trailer prompted me)

Probably haven't watched it in about ten years and I think I'm "ready" for it now, if that makes sense.

[Craig]

As someone who wasn't a fan of the movie overall, but enjoyed the aesthetic, should I give the series a go?

Currently watching Planet Earth 2. It's absolutely stunning but lord is it stressful at times. When I first learned that nature documentaries are often somewhat stitched togeher parts of different footage I initially felt a little deflated. But as I've gotten older I actually find the craft of it makes it even more impressive. They spent so long capturing this unbelievable footage and managed to weave it into a convincing narrative. Sublime.