@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy@JohnnyShoulder Yep, both Top Cat and Captain Caveman got watched in our house, too. The Flintstones, Catch the Pigeon and The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog were also there, the latter I have on DVD alongside Wacky Races (for when I'm feeling under the weather and need a couple duvet days).
My brother was a big fan of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, M.A.S.K. and Transformers, as well as Captain Planet and He-Man. Those I could take or leave.
Oh, and The Adventures of Bucky O'Hare was pretty cool, too!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
My partner and I caught up with The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon Prime this weekend. After a very rocky pilot episode (which I'd watched a while back and hated, hence why it's taken us this long) it levelled out into a pretty darn great comedy-drama which only very occasionally made me recoil by going "Look! We're on streaming! Have some unnecessary nudity!"
The recent awards for Tony Shalhoub and Alex Borstein were well-deserved. Amazing performances.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
so apparently Game of Thrones, LOST and How i met your mother are trending on Twitter for "Worst endings to a TV show"
and to be honest they were all disappointing but i don't think they were as bad as many make them out to be but then again this is twitter and people on there can't tell the difference between something that's disappointing and something that's actually bad
but it does bring up a interesting question are, what shows ACTUALLY had a terrible ending, NOT a disappointing one but one that was just BAD
for me Angel had a bad ending all that build up and it just cuts to black, no resolution or anything (and no a comic doesn't count, it wasn't shown in the show)
what about you?
and NO i have no idea why Satan is trending either
"I pity you. You just don't get it at all...there's not a thing I don't cherish!"
"Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!
LOST had the best ending out of those three but it was still rather naff. Never liked how it went in the last season especially. The whole spiritualistic angle just lost me entirely.
Game Of Thrones was absurdly rushed. Seasons 1-4 are honestly some of the best television I've ever seen. Season 7 & 8 are a joke of poor writing and characterisation and only shows how much seasons 1-4 depended on George R.R Martin's writing.
How I Met Your Mother's problem was that it just went on way longer then it should've. I just didn't care (so much so I never watched past like season 5 or so). Also only including the mother in the last season was a bad descision Only for Ted to wanna go after Robin for the billionth time once all was said and done. Yeah I don't blame people disliking it as I'd say it goes against the character development that took place.
One awful ending in particular that springs to my mind though would probably be the show Grimm.
The show never really rises above good. Average mostly, some stand out episodes for sure and some real bad ones too. The writing being... decent enough for a 20 or so episodes a season show.
The procedural cop show of it is helped quite a bit by the Grimm fairy tale side and the "Wessen" (Beast People) plotlines to make it stand out.
The good and likeable preformences of David Giuntoli, Silas Weir Mitchell, Sasha Roiz (Barring a bizzare plot in season 4 where he was possessed by Jack The Ripper... Really), Reggie Lee & Bree Turner definitely helped it out over it's six season run.
The show's myth arcs though aren't really resolved in a satisfying fashion at all because they never seemed to really know what they were doing with it and the final episode was absolute hogwash.
Bumping everyone off for petty and cheap shock elements only to Deus Ex Machina them back to life and then a terrible timeskip final few moments It was an extremely poor end for a series that was constantly saved from the axe by a dedicated fanbase.
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
.
.
.
"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@LN78 yep it was just a glorified extra for a Next Gen episode
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy i never got round to Grimm actually but it always intrigued me, shame it sounds like it went out with a whimper
"I pity you. You just don't get it at all...there's not a thing I don't cherish!"
"Now! This is it! Now is the time to choose! Die and be free of pain or live and fight your sorrow! Now is the time to shape your stories! Your fate is in your hands!
Grimm's a decent show @FullbringIchigo. I'm probably still a little sour over the ending 😅
As I said the preformances of most of the cast really help lift it up. It could've done trying to break out from the procedural cop show format earlier then the final season (which was pretty bad unfortunately)
The end is bad sadly.
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
.
.
.
"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@LN78 I swear I don't do this deliberately (it's getting spooky at this point) but check out reply #96 on page five of the Star Trek topic to see a post I wrote this time last year which, amongst other things, details why "These Are The Voyages..." (ENT) is my all-time favourite episode.
EDIT: But at least we agree about House of Cards. What a stunningly awful final season, and finale.
You've watched misfits @KratosMD ? Pretty decent series
Sheehan was also in that movie last year about the moving cities or whatever
Interesting tidbit is that The Umbrella Academy is based on a graphic novel wrote by Gerard Way of My Chemical Romance and I think he did some of the artwork originally too.
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
.
.
.
"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
The Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy reviews that you've all come to hate love are branching out!
That's right! The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance is getting the review treatment!
I watched all ten episodes over the course of three evenings. And the documentary the evening after .
In preperation for the series I also watched The Dark Ccrystal film after a good three years or so since I'd last seen it. Twice. Once before I watched the series and once after.
Not intentionally I just watched it with my partner the second time afterwards.
So... Let's get on with the review yes? Mmmmmmmmm?
Background Info
The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance is a prequel series to the cult classic film The Dark Crystal made in 1982 by Jim Henson.
Yup that's right this prequel series is being made a whopping 37 years later. Those puppets were pretty darn good back then... and they're even better now thanks to that big Netflix budget!
The Dark Crystal (film that is) takes place on the world of Thra where the land is dying and the embodiment of the world's lifeforce, The Dark Crystal, is withering away as well.
There's three suns in the sky of Thra and the main protagonist, Jen, needs to reach the Dark Crystal and heal/repair it with a shard that had broke away from the crystal before the three suns allign in conjunction and Thra will be lost forever.
I would say more... But it's probably better for you to watch it the film. Spoilers and all that.
Of course should you wish to watch the series first then thankfully you get given a nice bit of world building right from the start that'll get you up to speed and then some.
Plus with The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance being a prequel series set about 100 years before the events of the film... You get a whole different perspective of the setting.
The show meanwhile revolves around three main protagonists
Deet, A Gelfling from the underground dwelling Grottan clan.
Rian, A Gelfling Crystal castle guard from the Stonewood Clan
and Brea, The youngest Gelfling Princess of the Vapra Clan.
Needless to say things don't entirely appear as they seem with these three protagonists from all over Thra getting muddled up in a little something called destiny, crossing paths with one another and with alliances formed, friends lost and the truth revealed.
What's a Gelfling you say? Well...
There's three main races to the land of Thra.
The Mystics
A rather recluse race, that to me seem to have a very native american kinda vibe mixed with your classic nature respecting Elf, that are peaceful.
The Skeksis
Rulers of The (Dark) Crystal. There are only twelve or so of the Skeksis whom maintain order in Thra.
and the Gelflings
Whom are a matriachal society, split into seven different clans and protect the Masters of The Crystal. Female Gelflings having a little special something that males don't. Wings.
There's also the Podlings whom are fairly prominent
They're a pretty simple race whom seem to enjoy the more average aspects of daily life in Thra.
and Mother Augra
A living embodiment of the world of Thra. Whom may have spent eons star gazing and turning her eye from the world.
Naturally I'm leaving some aspects out for you to discover for yourselves as you watch the show and or film.
The Review
So with the main gist down without too many spoilers... How does the actual series fare?
In a word? Spectacular.
In about ten or so paragraphs worth?
The Dark Crystal: Age Of Resistance keeps the spirit of Jim Henson's original film very much alive. The fact the series has done so after 38 years is a triumph to say the least. That it adds a bunch of world building and lore that feels right at home? A treat and then some.
Dare I say it's even an improvement over the film?
The film is a bit of a slow burn at times. Not helping things is both the voice acting for the Gelflings and the general look of them is a bit off. Jen's in particular being rather dated and lacklustre.
The series meanwhile can still take a bit of time to set things up, but it's much grander in scope, has some thrilling voice acting, great production values and just wonderful.
Benedict Wong (Wong in Doctor Strange/Avengers) for example is completely unrecognisable as The General of the Skeksis, Simon Pegg making the Chamberlain of the Skeksis all the more of the scene stealer he already was in the film. Nathalie Emmanuel (Missandei from Game Of Thrones) giving Deet a wonderful wamth and naivety to the role. Plus Donna Kimball sounds almost exactly alike Billie Whitelaw whom voiced Aughra in the film all those years ago,
If I had to single out one preformance that was a little ho-hum? It's probably Lena Heady. The casting gag is somewhat cute. But it feels a little Cercei in the last season of GoT when she was particularly stotic. A bit flat really. Still decent though.
The puppetry meanwhile is phenominal. One particular scene (if you've seen it you'll know) that's a touch self depricating is an absolute highlight and star of the series.
CGI only being used for shots that are utterly impossible to do with the puppets, some establishing shots and some effects.
Yeah you might see a foot that doesn't touch the floor every now and again or the use of a sword might seem a little like a four year old kid with a stick. But it's puppetry. It's not perfect. I'd rather take this practical, heartful if a bit flawed approach then some soulless pixel perfect CGI fest.
One minor quibble would be that the soundtrack, while quite good, doesn't have that sense of awe that the film's score (or rather just the main, dare I say, iconic theme) had.
The writing is great and you can tell that all the people imvolved in this series have a tonne of respect for the property. Especially the documentary that reveals Simon Pegg and a number of the other actors to be big fans, the writers originally coming to the Henson family with a Labryinth sequel script only to be given the keys to this series instead. Not to mention all the care and attention put into all facets of the production
The final words
Netflix has had a bunch of misfires with it's (truly) original content. Mainly regarding flims but there's some series that are fairly lacklustre or mediocre as well. This series though is without a doubt a jewel in it's original programming and shouldn't be missed!
I think it's the best thing I've watched all year across all formats.
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy Awesome review. Jim Henson puppetry is magical stuff. You've almost convinced me to watch it; I'll check out a trailer whenever I boot Netflix back up. Glad you enjoyed it so much!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Honestly I wrote it during my lunch break @RogerRoger... I'd meant to do it like three weeks ago but got sidetracked and finally got to doing it today 😂
Thought it was a little rushed, maybe a touch too vague as well to not spoil anything, but glad you enjoyed reading it
Previously known as Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy
.
.
.
"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life. Sometimes all you need is something simple, like someone to take care of"
@Foxy-Goddess-Scotchy I always find that a difficult tightrope to walk; how much to you give away in a review? You have to mention the basic premise, obviously, but would it drop too many hints to describe anything further? How to you balance the need to talk about it, without actually talking about it?
But hey, you made me wanna check it out, so I'd call that a success!
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
Yesterday my partner and I watched the first episode of the new Netflix show, The Politician. On the surface, it lacks charm but puts forward a couple half-decent performances. It's cynical as heck, which might float some people's boats, but we won't be watching the rest of the season.
Mainly because it opens with a warning to those who struggle with mental health issues, which made us pause and consider whether we wanted to continue; I regret that we did, because many elements of the episode had an utterly hideous impact on me. Some might point to my reaction as evidence of the show's effectiveness, but I'd argue it instead betrays its ham-fisted, un-caring approach to its themes. There are ways to show what it shows, ways which wouldn't have reduced me to a sobbing, self-loathing heap. I'm being highly personal, but I can imagine that I'm not alone; why else would they have put the warning up in the first place?
It's the most bizarre, unsettling thing I've watched in... well, ever. Equal parts a commissioner's dream and a ratings disaster, with decisions that make zero sense from any angle, doing a disservice to most of its solid cast. I'll be steering well clear, but best of luck to anybody else undertaking the full eight-episode run (and already-confirmed second season).
After my reaction to it, there's no way in heck I'm gonna see Joker at the cinema.
"We want different things, Crosshair. That doesn't mean that we have to be enemies."
@LN78 Not me. Certainly if it is centered on Aaron Paul.
BB was a good show for the most part - but I'm glad it was a condensed binge-watch for me rather than having to watch it weekly. There was plenty of filler and the usual issue of a successful show that meanders around in order to exist for a bit longer.
PSN: KALofKRYPTON (so you can see how often I don't play anything!)
Twitter: @KALofKRYPTON (at your own risk, I don't care if you're offended)
"Fate: Protects fools, little children, and ships named Enterprise." - Cmdr William T. Riker
Forums
Topic: The TV Show Thread
Posts 941 to 960 of 4,445
Please login or sign up to reply to this topic