The Film Thread: Page 403 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

The Film Thread

goon

I have to say though a strange sadistic part of me wants to go back and watch it again.

Qwiss

I've watched Lost all the way through twice. I think it gets way too much criticism. Its not perfect by any means and the last season is a bit wonky but overall it holds up.

Jens

I consider Lost to be a missed opportunity for a great show. Certain aspects like the opening scene of season 2 were just dynamite and is an iconic piece of televison, but all the clunky, badly written scenes on the beach with two characters talking that does nothing for plot or character development add up and become unbearable over time. Being on a major network they had to do something bananas like 22 or 24 episodes a season. If they could have sliced the number of episodes way down and trimmed the fat what's left is a real intriguing story.

Qwiss

Jens wrote:
I consider Lost to be a missed opportunity for a great show. Certain aspects like the opening scene of season 2 were just dynamite and is an iconic piece of televison, but all the clunky, badly written scenes on the beach with two characters talking that does nothing for plot or character development add up and become unbearable over time. Being on a major network they had to do something bananas like 22 or 24 episodes a season. If they could have sliced the number of episodes way down and trimmed the fat what's left is a real intriguing story.

Absolutely. Thats why you end up with episodes about the origin of Jacks tattoos or Nikki and Paulo. I still think there were enough good moments to make up for it.

I'm not sure I could watch a regular network drama any more with that many episodes. Almost all I've tried to watch in recent years I've quit after a couple of seasons.

goon

That format seems to be mostly dead these days no? I can't think of anything I watch that has 20+ episodes a season. Walking Dead is perhaps the only exception though even that's split into two parts.

Klaus

Sitcoms and some CW shows. Jane the Virgin is 18-22 episodes per season and I don't think it would be as good if you trimmed it down. Some storytelling works better in long format. The new Twin Peaks season had 18 I think, and it was great. Elementary is 22 episodes every year and it's good partly because of it. A lot of the charm of the show is just the characters interacting at this point.

Generally I prefer shorter shows too though. Even most ones that are 10-13 episodes per season and end up running for 5-6 years could be trimmed down significantly. I reckon that's gonna happen over the next decade as streaming absorbs the market.

jones

I'm three seasons into Elementary. It's good but not a patch on the BBC version

I can deal with the Americanisation because I'm used to it but I dont see the point in flipping genders of main characters, and Liu never really convinces in her role. Decent side characters though to be fair

QuincyAbeyie

Even the BBC version went to shit, so that's not a good sign. Not to be a mood killer, but should we continue the TV conversations in the TV thread? 😆

arsedocmd

Lucy Liu. She can play any role she wants brother.

Qwiss

Klaus wrote:
Jane the Virgin is 18-22 episodes per season and I don't think it would be as good if you trimmed it down. Some storytelling works better in long format. The new Twin Peaks season had 18 I think, and it was great. Elementary is 22 episodes every year and it's good partly because of it. A lot of the charm of the show is just the characters interacting at this point.

2 of your examples there, Jane and Elementary, are shows I stopped watching largely due to the long seasons. I've been saying for ages I'll go back to watching Jane but its still not happened. Elementary became way too repetitive for me.

QuincyAbeyie

arsedoc md wrote:
Lucy Liu. She can play any role she wants brother.

Watched Kill Bill (both of them) for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The first one was good and the second one was decent, but Liu's acting was mediocre at best.

MistaT

The fuck is going on in 'The FILM Thread'....ya'll are running wild

Qwiss

Quincy Abeyie wrote:
arsedoc md wrote:
Lucy Liu. She can play any role she wants brother.

Watched Kill Bill (both of them) for the first time a couple of weeks ago. The first one was good and the second one was decent, but Liu's acting was mediocre at best.

Lucy Liu was brilliant in the extremly underrated and overlooked Southland. Everything I've seen her in since she's been great.

QuincyAbeyie

Other than Kill Bill I only remember seeing her in Charlie's Angels, which did not contain great acting from anyone iirc. So anyway, I'm probably not the best person to judge her acting skills, since she's probably been in plenty of other stuff.

Qwiss

jones wrote:
I'm three seasons into Elementary. It's good but not a patch on the BBC version

I can deal with the Americanisation because I'm used to it but I dont see the point in flipping genders of main characters, and Liu never really convinces in her role. Decent side characters though to be fair

TBF Sherlock is far worse than Elementary from season 3 onwards.

Asterix

Saw Green Book on the weekend, before the Oscars. It's a really good film. I've not seen Viggo in much besides LOTR, so it was disconcerting seeing him older and fatter and Italianer. Mahershala Ali was fantastic too in a very restrained, taut role. It's a fairly standard road / buddy / odd couple movie. I can see why the Academy chose it, but I can also see why many people think it didn't deserve to win Best Picture. It's a really good film, not a great one.

Paddington 2 for instance was just as enjoyable.

Daz

I watched Paddington 2 with my youngest on the weekend after seeing it get positive vibes on here. Was enjoyable and the visuals were great. I also really liked Grant in it.

Klaus

Green Book was a good film and Viggo probably deserved the nomination, but the one he really should have gotten an oscar for was Eastern Promises. He and Ali both put in good performances in Green Book but like you say it's a known formula. I felt Blackkklansman got a bit robbed personally.

I think it's a real shame that Roma stole best foreign film from Shoplifters too, but the oscars swing this way I guess. It got a consolation award to make up for the best picture snub. It's a good film but also terribly boring, which to me is a sin. And I don't care what kind of lyrics people wax about its cinematography; it had the worst black and white footage I've seen in ages. I don't know what it is. Something with the way Cuaron light the scenes possibly? It looks so damn artificial and... flat. Like he took a colour film and just desaturated it.

Jens

Eastern Promises is an all time favourite of mine and Viggo is phenomenal in it but that year he happened to be up against Day-Lewis in TWBB. Most other years he would have been a deserved winner.

banduan

arsedoc md wrote:
Lucy Liu. She can play any role she wants brother.

except she doesn't. Typecast so often.

« Previous Page Next Page »