Topic: The TV Show Thread

@Th3solution I dropped off somewhere around season 7 then went back and watched them all start to finish after the series finale. I'm sure the showrunners might call what happened finality but I sure wouldn't. Now there's like 3 planned spinoffs that I know of. On top of the other 2 already. Talk about milking it. I get it, it's popular but have some artistic integrity for crying out loud.

Anyway, there are some really powerful moments in that serious, most in the beginning but also sprinkled sparingly throughout so idk, kinda feel like on the whole it's worth it for those moments. I think the show really suffered after the loss of Frank Darabont, not only because he seemed to get what in the comics made for great TV but also because you got the impression certain characters got written off after his departure because idk politics. And it's always a shame when off-screen nonsense dictates storytelling. Definitely was a kick in the teeth when someone in particular got written off way later in the series for basically this reason.

Anyway I'm rambling. I will say I think somehow AMC seemed to manage a darker tone than TLoU which is surprising considering TWD is basic cable and HBO has like Euphoria and GoT, monuments to excess. Idk, I'd have preferred a grittier and darker adaptation of a game that's frankly pretty grim.

I loved the first season of The Walking Dead, but especially from season 3 on they didn't manage to recreate the distinct visual style and drama from the comics to the screen for me. I get why people love it, though, but I'd rather read the comics (I never finished reading those though, such a shame!).

@zupertramp The TWD source material is so much darker than anything TLOU1.

@zupertramp
Like @Kidfried said, the source material was inherently much darker in tone. Plus just because some of HBO's series push the envelope doesn't mean that all of them have to. Also a little fun note; several of AMC's shows were originally pitched with HBO in mind such as Mad Men and yes, The Walking Dead. HBO turned down Walking Dead because they believed the material would be too violent for their target audiences. Yes HBO, the same network who aired Game of Thrones just a year after Walking Dead premiered which is just as violent lol.

I decided to wash the bitter taste of "A Time to Kill" out of my mouth by watching the wonderful Matthew McConaughey performance in the first season of "True Detective". The "one shot" action scene (I think I can spot at least two hidden cuts) during the fake bust at the housing project in Episode 4 remains one of the best examples of a sustained take I've ever seen. The freeze frame at the end of Episode 3 is still weirdly terrifying, too. Great stuff.

@LN78 I've not watched it since it was first one but think I read that it was almost one shot but there's a bit where it goes over a wall where they switched camera but it was still all done in one take.

@Thrillho Yeah that sounds right. I was thinking there might have been another edit when the two guys go back through the house but the camera goes around the side - I guess not! It's still a very impressive feat of coordination.

Maybe playing the games alongside the Last of Us TV show was a mistake, I think episode 6 is probably a fine piece of television in a vacuum, but man I just watched this so confused by why they made so many changes that didn't really alter anything in any meaningful way. Like I'd rather a shot for shot remake than changes for the sake of changes.

I also think that that really powerful scene between Joel and Ellie, 'You are not my daughter...' is just wasted here. Firstly, they weirdly changed the dialogue which doesn't enhance anything it just makes it sound like someone is recounting the scene they saw ages ago from memory but also because of how the TV show is paced, so much of what Joel and Ellie had been through by that point in the game has never made it to the TV show, so this scene just feels sorta weird.

They've also made pretty massive alterations to Joel's characterisation too, maybe as some sort of pre-emptive brace for when they need to start adapting Part 2, but as a show I am watching right now, this version of Joel is a seriously lesser version of the one in the games.

It is a show as the performances are fine, I think Ramsey and Pascal have pretty good chemistry, but this is starting to feel more like a trailer for the game rather than a real show.

@LN78 It was the first time I really became aware of the idea of a continuous shot before and it is amazing to see it come off like that. It must also be great for the actors to be a part of too, so long as there aren’t too many takes!

I was trying to think of other examples last night and came up with Charlie Work from IASIP which has a fantastic sequence (I ended up watching the episode again last night after thinking about it).

And then the penultimate, and for me best, episode of The Bear is all one shot and must have taken some serious effort. If you’ve not seen it, the series is worth watching just for that episode in my opinion.

@Thrillho There are tons of them in movies (especially since DV became a thing) but more often than not they're of the "look at me, aren't I clever?" variety rather than for storytelling purposes. I think my favourite is still the (shot on 35mm) entrance to the Copacabana scene from "Goodfellas".

@Thrillho
Mr Robot had an entire episode edited to look like one take. And it was a wild one too, transitions to aerial shots, switching perspectives, etc. Plus it all served a serious story telling purpose as the events of that episode were pure chaos and that helped exemplify it. Theres cuts of course and some elements of it that could clearly only have been pulled off with CGI but it can be very difficult to determine where all the cuts are specifically. All in all I am baffled more people don't talk about Mr Robot. That show was a masterpiece from start to finish.

@PegasusActual93 Oh yes, that episode of Mr Robot was mind blowing. I know a few people that started it but didn't stick with it for various reasons.

@JohnnyShoulder
Shame for them, not only is it one of the most impressively shot and edited shows I have ever seen but it is one of the few pieces of recent media I have seen that actually has meaningful social commentary about modern society instead of pretending it's deep when it's not.

@PegasusActual93 I’d forgotten about Mr Robot. I’ve only seen the first episode as the wife wasn’t interested in it (like anything decent) but now I’m on a roll with programmes I’ll have to add that to the list.

Over the last month or so I’ve got through Sandman, Better Call Saul S1, What We Do in the Shadows S1, Good Omens, and just finished S2 of BCS last night!

Just finished watching season 8 of The Walking Dead. Can't believe that I've managed to pick the show up after so many years of not watching it. It definitely took a long time to find out where I stopped watching and then find it enjoyable again, which I did halfway through season 8.

But yeah, this was a fantastic season and it ended very well. Lots of stuff happened and a lot of it was really memorable. I remember now why I fell in love with this show years ago, it's just so good. So many great characters, excellent writing and in general just cool stuff happening all the time.

I also have to say that Negan has become one of my favourite villains of all time. He's honestly the most interesting one that I've seen since the Joker. And it's crazy that after six seasons, the show runners introduced a character like that that makes the show instantly more captivating to watch. Because after six seasons, most shows just become stale but not this one. I'm very impressed by that, major kudos to the show runners for pulling that off.

I also finished DC's Stargirl season 2 but I don't have much to say about it. Another good season but it's now become a show on the same level as other superhero shows that I've watched, i.e. nothing special. Great show to watch if you want something chill.

That said, I'm actually quite unsure what to watch next on HBO. I think I want to take a break from The Walking Dead (not a long one this time!) and explore other shows on the service. I'll probably continue with season 3 of Stargirl since, like I said, it's a chill show to watch. Maybe I'll finally start up Chernobyl or Band of Brothers this time alongside Stargirl.

@LtSarge
Chernobyl or Band of Brothers would be wise choices as a miniseries would be a welcome pallet cleanser. If remember correctly you were the one I gave that recommended list to so it's all up to you.

Had to cry so hard watching Left Behind. Was hardly able to talk afterwards. The true emotional gut punch this one.

@Thrillho @LN78 yeah, I recommend Russian Ark for an example of a fairly cool continuous shot film. I have to admit I've only seen it because of a Russian history class I was taking but even still it's an engaging watch from a technical standpoint, and historical if you're into that as it guides you through the different eras of modern Russian history.

Bubblegum Crisis (Blu-Ray)

80's anime OVA (original video animation) that follows the Knight Sabers, a group of women with power armor, who combat Genom, a corrupt robotics company illegally manufacturing military grade androids called "Boomers", by night in a cyberpunk flavored Tokyo.

Animation is kinda rough in the first part, but it gets better & better with each one & I'd say by part 4 it's really at the top of it's game (plus the whole aesthetic is just awesome & much superior to what the anime industry turns out these days IMO). Definitely some "Terminator" & "Blade Runner" influences, but again as it goes on I think it definitely makes a mark of it's own.

In terms of narrative it ultimately doesn't reach a stark conclusion, with parts 1-3 & 5-6 being the only ones that really act as connected little arcs (with parts 4, 7, & 8 kinda being the most independent stories), but honestly I found the latter parts to be more enjoyable overall even if they're more standalone (maybe save part 6 for last if you want a sense of completion. Without getting too spoilery, it seems like it leaves Genom in the worst spot out of all of them). I watched it dubbed in English, which while technically bad due to age, gave it a certain charm.

Fun Easter Egg: Near the start of I think part 3, a character brings up a map of the city on a computer screen, and all the points listed on it are "Top Gun" references, such as Hollywood, Tom Cruise, Kelly McGinnis, Maverick, & Goose.

Kandagawa Jet Girls (Blu-Ray)

Hoping to follow in her mother's footsteps as a professional in the sport, Rin Namiki decides to move from her small home town to attend high school in Tokyo in the hopes that it'll have a Jet (Ski) Racing Club. Problem is the school shuttered the program years ago & to have any hopes of reviving it she'll have to win the support of fellow classmate Misa Aoi, a former prodigy who gave up the sport after mysterious circumstances.

Honestly the story is pretty much fluff about the power of friendship (& all the girls introduced are walking tropes, with the rich girls, the delinquents, the American weebs, the idols, the shrine maidens, etc). That's okay though as it's really just an excuse to have a bunch of anime girls in wetsuits, bikinis, or nothing at all (expect to see at least one scene in every episode, usually a bathing one, dedicated to detailed breast shots). It's far from high art, but it's not trying to be & delivers on what it IS trying to do, so it's hard to find much fault in it unless the idea itself is off-putting to you (which is understandable).

That said, credit where credit is due, the actual racing can be fun & it nails that summertime fun in the sun vibe aesthetically (you get a real sense that the studio has an appreciation of nature, especially the episodes spent at Rin's small seaside town).

I decided to check it out after playing the game tie in (available on Steam & PS4), which was actually pretty fun if easy.

Interesting spin on the Left Behind DLC for last week's episode of The Last of Us (that I only just got around to watching). I think I preferred the performances in game, but I actually think the story was helped somewhat by the remixes and tweaks this episode makes. I think some of the other faithful episodes just feel like worse versions of the levels in the game, especially as the show feels really rushed when you have the context of the games in mind. This is one of the examples where I think they did a good job between staying faithful and making improvements, and it was paced well enough that it didn't feel like I was just watching cliff notes.