Whatcha Been Watching?

This is the place where you can conflab about all the other stuff besides videogames
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Scrustle
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Scrustle »

@Craig Are you talking about Ghost in the Shell? If so, I would definitely recommend checking out Stand Alone Complex if you weren't so hot on the film. In the case of that first film at least, I think it has pacing issues. There's a whole lot of talk through most of it, without much actually happening. Then everything crashes together at the end in a really fast and quite short climax. I think it's because the story they were trying to tell perhaps isn't really suited to the format of a film. It's simultaneously too short and too long. It's too short to really go in to depth with each plot point, so instead it has to omit a lot and simply tell instead of showing. Yet it's also too long in that, since it only has enough space to cover a fairly limited number of plot threads compared to a manga or TV series, it dwells a lot on those few threads, having to drag them out across a longer run time without other threads to break things up.

That's why I think the TV series format for Stand Alone Complex makes for a much better place to tell that kind of story. Each series has its own, big, overarching plot that develops slowly across the series. You'll get new insight across various different episodes, but you arrive at those points through an episode that stands as its own distinct plot itself. So it has room to breath over a long series, but also the shorter episodic format keeps the pacing up in the short term. It also means they can take an episode every once in a while to delve in to something not related to the main overarching plot, where they might explore something interesting about the implications of the setting, without it feeling like it's wasting time or anything.

That comparison doesn't work so much with the second film though. I like both films, but you can't really compare Innocence to SAC like you can with the original. It's its own, slightly strange thing.
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Craig
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Craig »

Thanks for the write up. Looks like I'll be giving it a go some day!
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KissMammal
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by KissMammal »

Craig wrote: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.
I know what you mean. I find most documentaries - other than very dry historical Ken Burns/Errol Morris type ones or naturey/Attenborough ones - quite hard to watch now as I am so conciously aware of the artifice.

I tried to watch Raiders! the other day, which is a potentially charming doc about a bunch of kids who filmed their own mythical remake of Raiders of the Lost Ark in the 80s and reunite as adults to complete the last scene they didn't finish. But the execution was so lame - for some reason they had added in all this obviously fake drama and peril to try to make it more exciting. Couldn't stand it.

Same story with a football doc called Next Goal Wins from a few years ago. It felt every bit as manipulated as an episode of a trashy reality TV show.
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Todinho »

Ok so I just watched the first 3 episodes of Westworld and Im floored I love this show already!I went in skeptical since I was hearing everyone talking about how great it is from Kojima to Avellone and to every random person in between on my twitter feed it seemed so I was bracing myself for disapointement but man I dont think I'ver seen a show to win me over so quickly as this one,I was also curious over what game design had to do with the show and actually it has quite alot and it's brillant!
People Im watching it with thought it was too slow but I totally disagree I think the pacing is just right because it needs us to go through the entire process along with the characters if that makes any sense,also kudos to the actors in the show they are doing an amazing job. Im kinda rambling right now but Im really excited to see where the series goes because so far Im super impressed and this is already by far my favorite Nolan work post Dark Knight ;)
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macstat
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by macstat »

Lately i gave Gotham a second go (after watching two episodes and calling it quits) and this time i went through whole season. It grew on me and i really started to enjoy it, but i have a feeling that this show lives and dies with Cobblepot.
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

I only just watch Prince of Darkness (1987) for the first time last night, and while it should go without saying for a John Carpenter film, the score is amazing. In isolation from it's over-achieving siblings (The Thing, Halloween, etc) it's a pretty damn good movie, and the way it tells its story and the pace that it unfolds at... it may be a lesser John Carpenter film, but a lesser John Carpenter film is still miles above a lot of movies out there.

Just a pleasant surprise. Well, as pleasant as can be considering the tone. :twisted:
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Combine Hunter
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Combine Hunter »

Westworld is really great. I was slightly worried during the early middle episodes that it was gonna turn into a convoluted mess, but I'm happy to be wrong. The puzzle pieces are slotting together, and its unique structure is paying off. The writing and acting is really, really strong. Ed Harris is the stand out performance for me, but really everyone is bringing their A game to this. Really happy to have a smart Sci-Fi show with HBO's production values.
Todinho

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Todinho »

So finnished Westworld, the ending was actually quite predictable and even a bit cliche you could say but it fit the series perfectly, some people might complain they werent surprised more but personally I wouldnt have it any other way. It might seem like a cop out but I think this season has been much more about the journey then the destination because we kinda know what the destination is fairly early on,it's getting there that's interesting and it certainly was =D. Now foward I dont know what's gonna happen,the future season would have to be about something else so it could get interesting again or it could be boring but this season alone is so good and I would say self contained that it's worth watching just by itself even if the future season end up sucking.

PS: I really love the Anthony Hopkins and Ed Harris dynammic even if they are barely together especially with how the season ended and with what each of them represent.
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ADumican83
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by ADumican83 »

Did anybody watch the new series of Time Commanders last night?
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Alex79 »

I've been watching, oddly, Firefly. Never watched it past the first episode before. I've always been wary of it, since it's surely been overhyped for years by The Internet. It's alright though.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Alex79 »

macstat wrote:Lately i gave Gotham a second go (after watching two episodes and calling it quits) and this time i went through whole season. It grew on me and i really started to enjoy it, but i have a feeling that this show lives and dies with Cobblepot.
I stalled about two thirds through season one. I was enjoying it enough I guess, there just wasn't anything pulling me back in. I'll probably catch up at some point.
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

Alex79uk wrote:I've been watching, oddly, Firefly. Never watched it past the first episode before. I've always been wary of it, since it's surely been overhyped for years by The Internet. It's alright though.
Hype is a killer... but I do have a soft spot for Firefly! It certainly wears its Wild West influences on its sleeve in a good way, but I'll try not to hype it. It is what it is: a one season show with production issues. It doesn't conclude so much as end.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by ratsoalbion »

Speaking of which, someone should tell Alex about Serenity (in case he isn't aware).
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

God I love Serenity... Chiwetel Ejiofor (thank you copy and paste function) is amazing in that movie.

Alex, watch Serenity. If you have seen it, watch it again.
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ratsoalbion
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by ratsoalbion »

After you finish Firefly though.
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Combine Hunter
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Combine Hunter »

I get coming to Firefly now, and being a little underwhelmed. It's from a different era of TV, where the majority of shows didn't subscribe to the heavy serialisation that is just the norm in the boxset/netflix binge culture we have now. Plus, budgets were a lot smaller. Having said all that, I still think Firefly is really great for what it is. Joss Whedon knows how to write compelling characters, and tense situations. And I think Serenity shows off what Joss could have done with a more modern TV budget, with better cameras, lighting, etc.

But yeah, don't go in expecting THE GREATEST TV SHOW EVER MADE or the like.
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Alex79
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Alex79 »

I'm loving it so far, only watched three episodes but really enjoying it. I do know about the movie, and will definitely watch it after the series.
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macstat
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Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by macstat »

I got a bit late to the "Rick and Morty" party. Blitzed through it in last two days. One of funniest, smartest and unapologetic shows i watched. Cant wait for new season.
Todinho

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Todinho »

I watched a bit of Rick and Morty this year too after much pestering from friends of mine that love then show and it just never really connected with me,I mean humor is highly subjective but It never got me and I love Dan harmon's Community and I guess that's part of the problem I never could let that series go.
Joshihatsumitsu

Re: Whatcha Been Watching?

Post by Joshihatsumitsu »

I eventually got around, a few years late, to watching Big Hero 6 last night, a movie I skipped in the cinemas for many reasons. Most of those reasons involve crowds, and mobile phones.

The good: the animation is pretty fantastic, with Baymax very much being the highlight. Without spoilers I will say my favourite scenes in the movie involved Baymax and low batteries.

The bad: perhaps the overall story. Bad isn't the right word, perhaps disappointing? There's lots of individual scenes that are great, and the low key character moments shine, but the big action scenes, while coherent, were just okay. Baymax in armour isn't as engaging as Baymax trying to navigate a small room. Disney own Pixar, and they probably would have approached it very differently. The animation felt Pixar, but the story felt very Disney.

The weird: The ads for Disney Infinity 2.0. The DVD I picked up was part of a cheap, repacked animated movie collection thingy at the supermarket, so I'm not expecting a lot of love being thrown into it. Still, at the end of 2016, there may be some disappointed kids. And some adults too.
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