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Posted: |
Mar 22, 2015 - 4:34 PM
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By: |
mastadge
(Member)
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Finished Game of Thrones Season 4 (2014). I had started watching it on my sister's HBO GO account but I don't know if it's my internet speed or HBO GO itself, but it was frequently laggy and subpar less-than-SD video, so I held off on most of the season until it was released on video. (I'm considering HBO NOW next month but I'm worried it will be just as crappy. I really hope they have some kind of download option.) The show continues as it has been going -- I don't actually like it all that much, watch it more because people talk about it than because it's my favorite thing out there, but it's so busy that it's very watchable. Maybe as they continue killing characters off certain plotlines will gain greater focus and the narrative arc will be more to my taste. Or maybe not. Anyway, this season features the series' most horrific death so far, I think, and further demonstrates that in Martin's world it's not a good idea to be a decent person.
I do wonder how Westeros functions -- with all the workers getting killed by bandits and knights and whatnot, how is the realm possibly producing enough food to supply its cities and armies? Borrowing money from the bank is great and all, but all the money in the world won't buy what's not there.
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Posted: |
Apr 19, 2015 - 7:09 AM
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By: |
DeputyRiley
(Member)
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Finished up the two seasons of Revolution recently -- tremendous show. Brilliantly intricate plots (a nice and unusual balance between sci-fi and politics and war), spectacular (and I mean spectacular) action, and some wonderful acting. David Lyons in particular was absolutely brilliant. I loved the theme of the show of Miles (Billy Burke) and Monroe (Lyons) being each other's angel and devil. Miles represented the good guy and Monroe represented the bad guy...on the surface. Moreover, Monroe constantly brought out the bad guy in Miles and Miles constantly brought out the good guy in Monroe. That symbiotic relationship was my favorite part of the show, that no matte how good a guy Miles seemed or how bad a guy Monroe seemed, their long-lasting and powerful friendship compelled them to echo each other's defining characteristics. And I always love watching Elizabeth Mitchell kick ass.
Then I took a detour to watch the final season of Justified (Season 6). Excellent final season, and ranks up there with my favorites of the show's run. Again, my favorite aspect of the show was the symbiotic relationship between the two main characters, Raylan (Timothy Olyphant) and Boyd (Walton Goggins). Their relationship is remarkably similar to the strong bond that Miles and Monroe shared on Revolution; Raylan the good guy, Boyd the bad guy, each capable of the other's dominate characteristics, each growing up together and simple fate determined that they would become the men they have become. Raylan could have easily gone down the road of Boyd to a life of crime (and like his father), but his good side won out ultimately, and even though he had shades of darkness that were brought out by frienemy Boyd, they never took him over. Similarly, Boyd could have been an all-out evil man, but his friendship with Raylan kept his rampant villainy at bay and cultivated his better side. The complexity of this friendship and how it affects each character and the story at large as developed through six seasons is the top reason the show is so fantastic.
Just began Blue Bloods Season 1. 5 episodes in and really enjoying it. Occasionally there are almost cartoon-like thinly drawn criminals and the opening credits and theme are too jaunty and cheesy, I'm enjoying the family-of-cops atmosphere and tone, with various relationships being juggled with skill throughout each episode. Tom Selleck was the main draw for me here, and every scene he is in is sublime. Donnie Wahlberg also impresses, and I'm so happy he's found this role that showcases his talent in a very well-done manner. The character of New York City is also one of the most attractive things about this show, and the metropolis really does feel like part of the family of cops and every scene set in the city provides a wonderful backdrop and context to the stories. Really too early to tell how the show will play out but it shows promise and I know Michael24 really enjoys it and I trust his opinions.
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Posted: |
May 24, 2015 - 5:43 AM
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By: |
mastadge
(Member)
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Black Sails, Season 2 (2015) - Better than season 1. Still very enjoyable silliness.
Daredevil, Season 1 (2015) - In which Daredevil stops Kingpin's dastardly plan to redevelop a slum! There's a lot to like here, but also some disappointments: I feel like we should have had a good bit more of the legal side of things. I feel like Kingpin's plan was never sufficiently evil, and since he planned to go legit and aboveboard it made no sense for him to maintain his drug and trafficking ties so obviously. Also, it was kind of weird how quickly it went from "We do not even speak his name" to ubiquity. So. Good show, nice change of flavor from the other Marvelverse stuff. Room for improvement in season 2.
Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Season 2 (2014-2015) - King of the opposite of Season 1, it started strong and ended weak. Somewhere around the midway point it went from a solid adventure show to just overstuffed, with some spurious, contrived motivations to falsely enhance the conflict. And with so much build-up, the finale felt too small -- they should have budgeted differently to enhance the scale of the final battle and show us the stakes, because as things were, Brian Patrick Wade as Absorbing Man came across as more of a threat in the first few episodes than the anonymous Inhumans did in the last few. So, again, plenty of room for improvement!
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Posted: |
May 24, 2015 - 4:05 PM
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By: |
TominAtl
(Member)
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Daredevil- A fantastic Netflix original series that is everything that Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D is not: exciting and compelling. Daredevil is played by the extremely pleasing on the eyes Charlie Cox and the primary antagonist is wonderfully underplayed by Vincent D'Onforio, except when he loses control. That is when he is really scary.
Great cast, nifty writing and some excellent but bone crunching fight scenes that make you feel every punch. And they pull no punches either when it comes to the fighting. Very little quick cut editing and in fact, there is one scene when they have a nearly 5 min fight scene in a hallway when Daredevil shows up to rescue a little girl from the Russian mob who want to put her into child slavery. Extraordinary for a television show in my book.
9 out 10 for me.
The Americans: probably the greatest travesty in American television today is the complete and total lack of recognition this show has NOT received. Everyone laments today, if not for years, the lack of great writing and story telling in t.v., that television is by and large for the prurient interests for the masses and that much of American t.v. goes for the lowest common denominator. Not this show. Played by mostly "average looking" actors and actress, with the exception of Keri Russell and Annet Mahendru, with very few action scenes and a story line that basically will make you rethink everything that you thought you knew about the Cold War, this show is just f'in brilliant. I just finished the 3rd season and it ended on a cliffhanger but it was inevitable. Fortunately the show has been renewed for a 4th season. There have been some incredible story lines and moments that rivaled that of Game of Thrones in terms of OMG moments and suspense. What is amazing about the writing talent is that you never really are "pulling" for these commie spies but you "know these people", you understand their motivations and how they are conflicted not by "well is capitalism better than communism" but are conflicted when they are put into a moral dilemma. Not to mention the compelling story line of FBI agent Beeman, wonderfully brought to life by Noah Emmerich. This is set in the early 80's and they throw many wonderful cultural tidbits and I mean not just the clothes, but games and shows and of course the politics.
Folks, watch this show. Yes, it is a slow burner but each episode and each season turns up the heat.
9 out of 10
The Following - this was the final year of this taut but pretty gruesome crime drama that really had problems staying the course after it's first season. But Kevin Bacon kept it together and he showed some phenomenal acting chops, particularly this season. But after 2 seasons it became repetitive in that you pretty much knew who was going to be killed, when they were going to be killed and who was "the mole" for that season. This season though the mole caught me off guard but then I just had trouble believing it.
6 out 10
The Blacklist - a fun, fast moving thrill ride of a show brought to the forefront as one of my favorite shows because of James Spader and his black fedora. It would be just fine by me if everyone else was replaced because basically it's his show. If only they would put a little more money for the special effects. Some of the explosions are horribly rendered in CGI, which is surprising in this day and age. A hit show like this should have some better post production values. But I love it nonetheless.
8 out of 10
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Mikej - that should be in offensive threads!!
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Posted: |
Jul 14, 2015 - 10:49 AM
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By: |
mastadge
(Member)
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Made it through a bunch of shows lately:
Battle Creek (2015) - An episodic cop show, which is not really my thing, but Dean Winters and Josh Duhamel are perfect and have good chemistry with the rest of the cast, and the episodes are just not stupid enough to keep me involved and entertained.
iZombie, Season 1 (2015) - From the creators of Veronica Mars, based on the (not superhero) comic by Chris Roberson and Mike Allred. Very entertaining. Looking forward to season 2.
Ripper Street, Series 3 (2014) - Got off to a rocky start, jumping 4 years from the end of Series 2. I was worried when BBC dropped this and Amazon picked it up that they would diminish the budget or lose the creative team, but once this series found its feed it was insanely addictive and often very good. It's been renewed for 2 more series but given how this one ended I don't know where they'll go from here.
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (2015) - Miniseries based on the acclaimed novel. Wonderful. Highly recommended.
Currently watching Killjoys (2015), a teeny-friendly cut-rate Firefly wannabe that people seem to be enjoying more because it scratches that Firefly itch than because it's actually any good. The main characters are cute but I don't buy any of them as badasses, and the setting always comes across as much easier and lighter than they seem to want us to believe it is.
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The show has been surprisingly interesting, with a standout Tangerine Dream sound alike score.