One More on the Telly: Page 90 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

One More on the Telly

Qwiss

I watched Godless a couple of weeks back, thought it was solid. Best thing about it is it made my wife realise she didn't hate westerns so now I've finally managed to get her to start watching Deadwood.

Irishgunner

I finished dark the other night. To be honest I didn't follow everything that happened but I really enjoyed it!

Anfield1884

Dark is class. Suspenseful throughout.

Sitting down to watch Altered Carbon now.

Rex

Think I need a new show or two. Haven't watched any tv shows for months now. It isn't a priority, really, and I just haven't heard of anything that has made me want to make the time investment.

QuincyAbeyie

I'm pretty sure Altered Carbon is the best Netflix show I've seen. Godless has better writing and is probably higher quality television, but Altered Carbon is so ridiculously entertaining. Banshee in space.

Klaus

Altered Carbon is entertaining. The novel is a lot more interesting than the show, but I feel that's almost always the case. It's well-casted though and I like a lot of the changes they made, in particular Poe who brings some well-needed humor to the story.

Daz

I didn't enjoy the novel but may give the show a go at some point.

I've started watching Hannibal. It's ok but not great so far, but I'm only 2 episodes in.

AfterI enjoyed reading The Handmaid's Tale on my holiday I'm keen to give that a watch too...if I can convince my partner!

Burnwinter

The Handmaid's Tale was very good. My girlfriend and I have been intoning "blessed be the fruit: may the Lord open" when we see toothpaste on special.

I think Hannibal is a show that matures on the palate, as it were. The interesting thing about it was its combination of its satire of bourgeois consumerism with sustained, serious and affecting thriller arcs. And it's really, really good-looking.

I've not read the Altered Carbon books, but I'm familiar with Morgan's fantasy writing though so I can sort of imagine what they'd be like.

After six episodes, I think it's very entertaining as cybersplatterpunk. I'm really enjoying the cliffhanger episode endings, and the punctuation with beautifully choreographed and brutal fight scenes. The actual Chandler-ish lines of the plot are a bit dull, and the "sleeve" premise relies on a (so far, fairly dull) mind-body dualism … the show's exploration of questions of identity aren't exciting me so far.

Daz

Burnwinter wrote:
I think Hannibal is a show that matures on the palate, as it were. The interesting thing about it was its combination of its satire of bourgeois consumerism with sustained, serious and affecting thriller arcs. And it's really, really good-looking.

I watched episode 3 last night and I gotta say I'm not really feeling it so far. I found that ep to be a bit cheesy and there is something quite unrealistic about the whole premise (not sure if it's a pacing thing but Hannibal is already allowed to wander freely around crime scenes??). The acting is pretty average too.

Burnwinter

Yeah, well the characters are utterly preposterous and hyperreal, of course. Ah well. It's not going to be for everyone. I'll always respect it for giving me nightmares.

Daz

Yeah I'll keep going with it and see if it grows on me. There are definitely things I like about it. I've read all of the Harris books and seen the movies, so I wasn't necessarily expecting 'realism' as such. But I do think they've made it even more realistic by rushing things in the first few eps. And I cab definitely see why it gave you nightmares!

QuincyAbeyie

I'm not the biggest fan of Hannibal, but personally I think the acting is amazing.

Klaus

Klaus wrote:
Altered Carbon is entertaining. The novel is a lot more interesting than the show, but I feel that's almost always the case. It's well-casted though and I like a lot of the changes they made, in particular Poe who brings some well-needed humor to the story.

Having finished it I have to revise my opinion a little. Poe is still a great addition, but most of the changes to the story itself weren't that great. I think it was a mistake in particular to change the envoys from sociopath soldiers raised on neurochems to some kind of hippie rebels and then write an unconvincing family drama into the backstory.

I did like that we got to see so much of Will Yun Lee (young Takeshi Kovacs) though. I think he's a class actor. The show should have kept more of the monologues exploring the duality of his identity and Takeshi's discomfort with being 'whitesleeved'. I'm honestly surprised it didn't; it would have turned it into a commentary on whitewashing that perfectly taps into the current climate.

All in all I think I did like the show better than the book(s). It's not as deep in its exploration of existential and racial questions, but it is a lot more entertaining than Morgan's writing. What it loses in philosophy it gains in brilliant commentary on the top 1% of the top 1% who own the majority of the world's industrial and economic resources. Just like in real life these fuckers never truly die, because death implies that a soul or any sense of self is present to begin with. The Bancrofts have quite literally become their possessions a long time ago.

The casting is great too. I have such a weak spot for James Purefoy in particular who both acts and looks like he's William Shatner's 40 year younger twin. Criminally underrated cornball actor.

QuincyAbeyie

I've seen more complaints about the casting than I expected to after watching it. People think Joel Kinnaman's acting is wooden while Martha Higareda's is over the top. Personally I think that the reveal for her acting that way was well done and that the two of them complimented each other.

Gazza M

Klaus wrote:
Klaus wrote:
Altered Carbon is entertaining. The novel is a lot more interesting than the show, but I feel that's almost always the case. It's well-casted though and I like a lot of the changes they made, in particular Poe who brings some well-needed humor to the story.

Having finished it I have to revise my opinion a little. Poe is still a great addition, but most of the changes to the story itself weren't that great. I think it was a mistake in particular to change the envoys from sociopath soldiers raised on neurochems to some kind of hippie rebels and then write an unconvincing family drama into the backstory.

I did like that we got to see so much of Will Yun Lee (young Takeshi Kovacs) though. I think he's a class actor. The show should have kept more of the monologues exploring the duality of his identity and Takeshi's discomfort with being 'whitesleeved'. I'm honestly surprised it didn't; it would have turned it into a commentary on whitewashing that perfectly taps into the current climate.

All in all I think I did like the show better than the book(s). It's not as deep in its exploration of existential and racial questions, but it is a lot more entertaining than Morgan's writing. What it loses in philosophy it gains in brilliant commentary on the top 1% of the top 1% who own the majority of the world's industrial and economic resources. Just like in real life these fuckers never truly die, because death implies that a soul or any sense of self is present to begin with. The Bancrofts have quite literally become their possessions a long time ago.

The casting is great too. I have such a weak spot for James Purefoy in particular who both acts and looks like he's William Shatner's 40 year younger twin. Criminally underrated cornball actor.

Purefoy is a perfect smarm and charm actor. Been a fan of his since rome

jones

Halfway through the second season of Hand of God, entertaining show. Andre Royo is a good level above everyone else in it, brilliant actor

jones

Finished it. What an absolute carcrash of a show finale, ruined a decent 18 episodes or so before

Claudius

Wonderfully-paced, brilliantly acted self-contained 7-episode drama: Big Little Lies. Watched it over the last two weeks. Does a good job of balancing multiple storylines about adults in a small rich town south of SF Bay warring with each other (other a range of things - some quite serious and others trivial), and how it all comes to a head with a death in the finale. Maybe one thread was telegraphed, but everything came together well. Love the cinematography as well.

Daz

Been watching it with my wife too Claude. Got two episodes to go so careful with spoilers. It really is an impressive show with great characters. And I say that as someone who usually loathes Nicole Kidman.

Claudius

The wife got me to watch it. The idea of watching a show about Monterey domestic squabbles did not appeal, and I watched the first episode reluctantly. But the acting, cinematography, direction, scoring all hooked me.

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