@RogerRoger I could never get into Gotham for some reason, maybe it was too contradictory. Like the level of cheese in it didn't match it's dark atmosphere. I know it sounds like a bit of excuse considering I've watched like 20+ seasons of the ultimate cheese Arrowverse. I think Jada Pinket Smith hamming it up in the first few episodes really did it for me and I had to pull the plug. I have considered watching it since though, they've had some of my favourite TV actors show up such as Michael Cerveres (Fringe) as professor pyg and Alexander siddig as Ra's Al ghul
Anyway, I've watched the first few eps of clone wars now. Already it seems a lot better than the movie which is really weird. I wonder if it's because the pacing of the movie just doesn't work as well as watching 3 individual 25 minute episodes. I've quite enjoyed that kind of old fashioned movie serial recap at the beginning of episodes. It's kind of fitting considering that Star Wars (a new hope) was supposed to be a homage to those old science fiction movie serials which is why it was retroactively fitted with the Episode 4 subtitle after the Empire Strikes back came out. I think the idea was that when you would see a serial episode that played before a movie in the old days, you could come at it in the middle of the story because you might not have seen previous installments that played before another movie you didn't go and see. Don't quote me on that though, movie history seems to change as more people have gone on record about it since the advent of the internet!
@RogerRoger Haha yeah I did watch some of a Julian Bashir as Ra's Al ghul episode once. Admittedly, the scene I watched was totally out of context so I would give it the benefit of the doubt but the pleasure of seeing Alexander Siddig on screen was completely outweighed by a character called Barbara hamming it up around him. I think it's a show I'd save for an incredibly rainy day, maybe monsoon season levels of rain 😅
I do wonder if later multi episode arcs of Clone Wars will have a more compelling story too. As cute as Jabba's baby is, I wouldn't say he was worth being a 3 episode macguffin. I am kind of warming to the artstyle now, I think every shock to the system needs some time to adjust. It actually reminds me of Telltale character designs, to the point where I am quite shocked Telltale didn't get their hands on the license to make a game out of Clone Wars.
It's so odd seeing these kind of proto-imperial starships being commanded by Jedi. I think it hits home just how bad the change in management was after Order 66. I suppose they still had Vader in charge after that though. It's also weird seeing Obi Wan and Anakin being Generals. Its so far off their depiction in the movies (at least the first 2) but it is quite an interesting look into that era of their lives.
I feel like I may have mixed up the movie serial recaps with the newsreel voice overs now! I believe both would have been shown before films in that era of cinema, along with a cartoon! Even without the specifics, it is certainly a call back to that era of cinema that Star Wars was originally supposed to be.
I forgot to mention about The Phantom Menace and Attack of the clones - I'm not sure how recently you have watched them but there was one guy in the Senate that shouts "Order!" when it gets a bit rowdy. It really reminded me of John Bercow from our parliament. Granted the character only shouts it once but it still made me crack up as soon as I heard it 😂
@RogerRoger@ralphdibny I can attest that I’m one of those who likes the animated Clone Wars Anakin better than the movie one. He’s less whiney and more altruistic. Without the whole being torn apart by the inner philosophical dilemmas and pull toward the dark side, he’s actually a more relatable and clearer scripted person, in my opinion. And I like the prequels better than the average Joe (although not as much as Rog) and yet I can’t deny the dialogue and portrayal of Anakin comes off a little awkward at times.
Now this is said with having only watched the first season of the TV show. I still need to get back into it. Hearing that it gets even darker and grittier surprises me because even in the animated movie and first season I was surprised at how intense and violent it can be at times, were I looking through the eyes of a 10 year old (or the mother of one). It’s plenty tame for me as an adult and I like the dramatic violence, personally, and welcome the tragic and intense aspects.
@RogerRoger I think that John Bercow-alike is called Mas Amedda or something, I looked him up. Or is Jon bercow a mas amedda-alike?! I googled the two names together and there was only one relevant search result that linked to a now removed YouTube video. Shame I couldn't watch it but at least someone else out there has seen the similarity!
I've been on the old Moonpig lately because I keep getting given "free" cards for some reason (I'd have to pay for postage) and they have a Bercow themed card where it says "Order!" in a speech bubble 😂
Id have to rewatch revenge of the Sith to make a fair opinion but Hayden Christensen is very strange in Attack of the Clones. I'd say it's mostly the fault of the script he is given but his delivery of the lines doesn't help matters. I don't know, I just have contradictory feelings on it. I love the movie but his parts can feel a little off sometimes. It doesn't help that one of my prequel bashing friends pointed out the sand conversation which now makes me laugh when I see it instead of not even noticing it as I had done up until that point 😅
I think revenge of the sith is my least favourite of the prequels (again, I'd have to rewatch it to be sure) but maybe I just like to be a contrarian lol. Phantom Menace is easily the best though even if it has some minor pacing issues.
I find it really odd that they are bringing Christensen back for the Obi Wan series. If you are not going to see his face or hear his voice then I wonder what the point is. I think the guy who played him in Rogue One was decent so I'd probably go in that direction. On the other hand, I can't imagine Christensen has been busy lately so maybe they are just throwing him a bone, which I can get behind too.
@Th3solution ahh I see that I've echoed your points about Christensen as Anakin! I'm cautiously optimistic about the rest of the show. I'm not totally fussed about watching it but when I have a spare half hour away from games I think it makes suitable use of the subscription between weekly episodes of WandaVision! I was going to ask how far you were into the Clone Wars but I see you've answered that too!
"Preoccupied with a single leaf, you won’t see the tree. Preoccupied with a single tree, you’ll miss the entire forest. Don't be preoccupied with a single spot. See everything in its entirety...effortlessly. That is what it means...to truly "see." "
@ralphdibny Yeah, I’m treating it like you - just popping in for an episode or two here and there. It’s taken me a while to get through at this rate but I do enjoy the episodes when I take the chance to watch them. I’ll post more impressions if/when I progress through the series.
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I have been watching Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix. Man, what a sleeper hit! I’m really enjoying it! Of course I’m a fan of the books, having read the 13 book series as a lad. I was always disappointed by the movie and how it barely scratched the surface of the whole book narrative. The quality of the movie was good, it just didn’t quite do the story justice. Seeing that the TV show has 3 seasons has me optimistic that they’ll give time to all the story beats that the original movie skipped over. Neil Patrick Harris is doing an outstanding job as the evil Count Olaf, even better than Jim Carrey I think. He’s clearly taken inspiration from Carrey’s performance but he’s also making the role his own. The script is quick witted, hilarious and self aware, and the cast as a whole is phenomenal. Baby Sunny is the cutest thing ever. I’ve only watched the first 6 episodes so hopefully it holds up.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Just watched episode 7 of Wandavision and well done @TheFrenchiestFry you totally called it. I have no knowledge whatsoever on the character that turned out to be the character you mentioned but I'm cool with that. It's nice not having a clue at where the story might be headed.
@TheFrenchiestFry Wow, between the two of us we’ve basically called the whole show so far! I really enjoyed the reveal though, despite being worried about the twins!
Oh and I’ll also add that Mephisto often appears as a fly in the comics, explaining the zoom on the fly in Agatha’s house
@nessisonett As soon as I heard Agnes talking about how the kids are in the basement I immediately thought of how in the comics the character loved to torture children and invite other people over to their house to stay for the night so I got really really freaking tense watching that scene
@RogerRoger ahhh yeah i never really thought of that. Despite the fact that the most recent films have had flashbacks and prologues (even if they are "force" induced), I still don't associate the technique with Star Wars at all.
You know, I kind of hope they don't remove the helmet in the show. I think if they did that then something may be lost in a chronological viewing of the franchise. The bacta tank scene in Rogue One showed just enough of Vader's body to maintain the mystique and ultimately not diminish the effect of the big reveal in Return of the Jedi. Any more than that may spoil it. Having said that, I would like to see more maskless/suitless scenes but I don't think its good to let the fans dictate the movie. I'd still like to see what they originally had planned for Episode 9 after they made changes due to the reception of The Last Jedi - that is assuming they did and that was the reason.
I should be clear that I do really like the prequels and Christensen's/Anakin's role in them. It's weird, I just think I have conflicting opinions on it sometimes. The "I killed all of them, the women and the children" scene is obviously a highlight. Well not a highlight of his character but it is an effective scene. Also the scene where he shares his naive ideals of leadership quickly followed by his despotic response to seditionists.
haha I wasnt looking specifically for John Bercow cards, i just saw one as I was browsing the Moonpig offerings! As much as I dislike the government, I do find some of the "characters" in it really funny. I don't know why, I guess I just have a dark sense of humour! This is a bit random but when I sort my e-mails in to folders, I have a folder called "Orders" which is for like order confirmations from online stores. Originally this name had nothing to do with Bercow but more recently, whenever I put an e-mail in that folder I shout "Order!" haha
I must admit that I did write a longer more detailed response earlier but Push Square logged me out as I posted it for some reason. I've tried to remember what I said and replicate it but something I've omitted may pop into my mind later!
So, the missus and I have tried a good few times over the years to get into The Expanse. We tried when season 1 was first airing and dropped off around halfway through. Then we kept hearing about how great it became and as we’re huge sci-fi fans we kept trying... and kept getting disappointed.
Well, after 5 years and multiple attempts, I think we’ve actually gotten to the point where we are thoroughly enjoying it and we’ll see it through to the end. We just finished episode 10 of season 3 and ‘things’ are really starting to kick into gear... and hopefully some answers will be soon to follow.
As a huge fan of Star Treks’ Next Gen & Deep Space Nine, Babylon 5, Farscape, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica etc. It has had some hard acts to follow but it’s starting to feel like it belongs with those Sci-fi opuses (not actually sure if that is the plural of opus but you get my drift).
I just thought that as ‘gamers’ tend to be into geek-culture, which in turn lends itself generously to sci-fi... if there are people out there that had similar struggles getting into The Expanse and gave up, maybe give it just one more try.
@colonelkilgore I think i got quite near to where you are now before I stopped a couple of months back. Not sure if I just needed a break from it or if it completely gone for me. I think the biggest flaw for me is that there are too many episodes of not much happening. That and the lack of non-humanoid lifeforms, but that might be just a me problem. It's a shame cos it looks superb and is written and acted very well.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@JohnnyShoulder yeah I struggle to hang my hat on exactly what was ‘missing’ for me... maybe it didn’t highlight/underline the drama quite enough when big sh** was going down. I do think this was gradually rectified as it progressed through season 2 and especially 3 though.
If, like me you are a Sci-fi fan though, give it another go at some stage as it does go in some very interesting and surprising directions. Also, I wasn’t always a fan of the acting on the show (although from your comment this doesn’t seem to have been an issue for you) but where I am now I’ve found that the majority of the case has really ‘found’ their characters and now ‘cooking with gas’.
Super interested to see where it goes in seasons 4 & 5 (& 6 🤞).
@colonelkilgore@JohnnyShoulder Glad to see I’m not the only one who had trouble getting into The Expanse. I think I made it about halfway through season 1 as well and just couldn’t maintain enough interest. I keep saying I should return to it, but other shows or activities pull me away.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@RogerRoger so The Expanse was originally a network show (the Sci Fi channel) but due to the budgetary requirements and a small regular audience it got cancelled after a few seasons. Amazon then picked the show up to my knowledge... and as I implied it takes a while to get going (season 1 was a particular struggle).
Babylon 5 has not aged well but that 5 season narrative arc is just beautifully epic. It's sci-fi loosely inspired by Lord of the Rings. Lots of themes, story beats and even some similar place names that are shared between the two. One day I do wanna watch the whole thing through again, though I'm not sure I could deal with 5 seasons of TV that is that old now. Would love it if it were rebooted actually...
... which brings me to your reaction to Battlestar Galactica (2004-2009) 😱 say it isn't so Rog!
@RogerRoger cheers! I love HIGNFY too, I always get the clips recommended to me on youtube. Boris Johnson is always a treat, especially when he hosted it. I of course only mean his HIGNFY appearances, he's not a treat as a politician lol. I like both eras of the show, its probably just as funny or funnier now than when Angus Deayton presented it. That being said, I'd probably like him to come back for an episode or two. It's been some years since his cocaine and hookers "scandal" so I am sure he could pull it off again!
I thought a HIGNFY themed quiz might be a good idea for a push square quiz, like maybe using push square headlines and gaming news. I cant really work out a good way to do it though. It doesn't help that I don't even fully understand one or two of the HIGNFY rounds and the point scoring system haha. Watch this space, or don't watch this space as it will inevitably remain unfilled for a long time or forever.
@RogerRoger it is funny how people who find common ground in one area (we seem to have a somewhat similar gaming 'pallette') can be so polar opposite in another area of geekdom.
Deep Space 9 came at just the right time for me as I was a moody teenager when it aired and I was instantly drawn into the dark cloak-and-dagger'ness' of it all. I also loved (something that you will no doubt hate) the introduction of a clandestine side to the Federation in Section 31. And Battlestar, well that probably came around in my mid 20's and I genuinely love it... probably watched the whole thing through 3 or 4 times... probably due another actually 😉.
As I've mentioned before though, likes and dislikes are a very personal thing... and there is no right or wrong answer. I admire your perspective built on hope for humanity and could probably do with a big helping of that myself. I do tend to view things the other way though... nihilism, staring into the abyss and all that, also the 70's is one of my favourite era's for art and entertainment and there is this 'real' dour outlook after the 60's bubble was burst with Watergate and the truths of the Vietnam War...
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