What TV series are you watching at moment?

[Rubin Farr]

David Thewlis is absolutely stealing the show on Fargo, jesus those bleeding gums.  And Mary Elizabeth Winstead's ass is almost its own character, lol

[olo]

David Thewlis is absolutely stealing the show on Fargo, jesus those bleeding gums.  And Mary Elizabeth Winstead's ass is almost its own character, lol

 

Agreed. Poor Ray just couldn't gtfo of his own way. Just take the stamp asshole. Nice call back to NCFOM.

Thewlis is great. Chilling in his semi listening to Chopin. Still want to know what their gonna do with this Gloria Burgle/no technology thing...

[WeAreOceans]

Girlboss... don't ask. I'm not sure if it's the writing or the actress but the main character Sophia is incredibly grating and unlikeable.

 

not subtle feminism/10

Edited May 29, 2017 by WeAreOceans

[oscillik]

The Handmaid's Tale - first episode 

 

For some reason they are digitally brightening the eyes of the handmaids, it makes it incredibly distracting to watch the show when it's almost like watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit every time there's a close-up of someone's face.

For a show that's supposed to be grounded in some sort of 'around the corner dystopia' realism, it really pulls me out of immersion and just makes me lol every time I see it.

 

The extremely low contrast, earthy colour grading looks like someone went overboard with VSCO filters in the phone app. It really doesn't look good at all. Unfortunately this seems to be a trend, as shows like Broadchurch (and pretty much any ITV 'drama' show) as well as Sherlock, are going for this over-the-top fake filmic look (completely crush the blacks, shave off some of the highlights), and it immediately dates a show as being produced during the latter half of the 2010s. As a photographer who likes the filmic look in photos, even this looks way too over the top. I admit that in my early amateur days, I would do the same. But it really does look like someone just discovered curves in Adobe Premier.

 

I know the show is based on a book, where the majority of it is presented in the form of Offred's internal monologue, but the constant voiceover seems too much. I haven't read the book yet though, but at times it really feels like the show is relying on voiceover as a hand-holding mechanism.

 

I'll see what the rest brings, as the base story and the 'world' is interesting enough.

 

5/10

[oscillik]

Overall, I'm liking Handmaid's Tale but I have the exact same problem as you do with it. It's overly stylized to the point that it feels like a 90s music video. Lots of slow motion, lingering face close-ups, the treatments you mentioned, etc. Only when

 

Ofglen ran over the policeman and Nick fucked Ofred

 

did the show get some realism going.

 

I've got nothing against visuals being overly stylised (Utopia is up there with the best shows I've seen in recent years, and I still love The Matrix), but this is particularly egregious. It's not only the clipped shadows and highlights, but the colour grading just looks like shit - as if someone has thrown brown shit everywhere. Even the sky is no longer blue, it's yellow-brown shit.

 

But man, dem eyes. 

 

And yes, the slow motion. There's only one director who in my opinion does slow motion correctly, and that's Wes Anderson.

[cwmbrancity]

aka Mr Style Over Content

 

The Handmaid's Tale rocks, i could give a fuck about Trump and analogies to contemporary US politics/circus, its real strength is that its underpinned by a novel that was ahead of its own time when written

 

does it justify the hype and probable guardian blogging? possibly not, but then there will always be contrarian commentaries to something solid regardless, so pro's/cons

 

5/10 is just plain mean, i love the original score, not the pop shit, the droney dissonant string sequences & Ann Dowd is the kind of lady who is a credit to her industry, its easily as good as anything else wanked over in the last 30-odd years (disregarding Twin Peaks as that occupies a universe & style unto itself)

[oscillik]

aka Mr Style Over Content

 

The Handmaid's Tale rocks, i could give a fuck about Trump and analogies to contemporary US politics/circus, its real strength is that its underpinned by a novel that was ahead of its own time when written

 

does it justify the hype and probable guardian blogging? possibly not, but then there will always be contrarian commentaries to something solid regardless, so pro's/cons

 

5/10 is just plain mean, i love the original score, not the pop shit, the droney dissonant string sequences & Ann Dowd is the kind of lady who is a credit to her industry, its easily as good as anything else wanked over in the last 30-odd years (disregarding Twin Peaks as that occupies a universe & style unto itself)

It's not mean. I'm not reviewing the book. If I wanted just the 'content' then I would've read the book.

 

Trying to make out that the visual look of a TV show doesn't matter is reductionist.

 

In any case, my opinion about the show (and the rating I gave it) is subjective. Just because I don't love it as much as you, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

[pcock]

just finished battlestar galactica. good cheesy fun. 

[Lada Laika]

just finished battlestar galactica. good cheesy fun.

OG or the RDM one?

[WeAreOceans]

Born to Kill

 

Typical edgy Channel 4 drama/thriller. No tension, entirely predictable.

[Kennylogg Bubblebath]

Fargo season 3 finally started airing here in the UK last night. Slightly predictable, but I definitely enjoyed it. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is an absolute goddess as always.

[olo]

Fargo ep.7 - Quality episode with things falling into place. That bus crash with Nikki was nicely done. Wondering if there's more to her character in regards to Varga than just a loose end. Also Ennis is looking more important than just an accidental kill...

[pcock]

The leftovers ep.7 - aff its nut/10

[Lada Laika]

The leftovers ep.7 - aff its nut/10

The flopping penis sound was allegedly made by dropping a guinea pig onto a blanket

[pcock]

 

just finished battlestar galactica. good cheesy fun.

OG or the RDM one?

 

the 2004 version.

[Lada Laika]

 

 

just finished battlestar galactica. good cheesy fun.

OG or the RDM one?

the 2004 version.

fukken yeasss I love that shit hoo wee

 

[cwmbrancity]

 

aka Mr Style Over Content

 

The Handmaid's Tale rocks, i could give a fuck about Trump and analogies to contemporary US politics/circus, its real strength is that its underpinned by a novel that was ahead of its own time when written

 

does it justify the hype and probable guardian blogging? possibly not, but then there will always be contrarian commentaries to something solid regardless, so pro's/cons

 

5/10 is just plain mean, i love the original score, not the pop shit, the droney dissonant string sequences & Ann Dowd is the kind of lady who is a credit to her industry, its easily as good as anything else wanked over in the last 30-odd years (disregarding Twin Peaks as that occupies a universe & style unto itself)

It's not mean. I'm not reviewing the book. If I wanted just the 'content' then I would've read the book.

 

Trying to make out that the visual look of a TV show doesn't matter is reductionist.

 

In any case, my opinion about the show (and the rating I gave it) is subjective. Just because I don't love it as much as you, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

 

 

 

if you think it looks wanky, i'd disagree on that front....there is more than enough scope to enhance the tones & moods with the black, grey/slate colour schemes & the puritan-themed scarlet/reds of the handmaid's themselves

 

surely thats part of the adaptive process, to try & create this cloak of distempered dislocation? so yes, imho the visual elements work in its favour rather than against it, particularly when the chronologies switch between before & present time-frames or maybe people want jazzymatazzz graphic colour schemes slapped across their screens to hold their attention

 

if you dont like it, well theres plenty of wank out there to dissolve into these days, i was just a bit surprised to see such a low score, you can dislike it all you want no-one's gonna interfere with that so much as challenge your perception a tad

[Rubin Farr]

 

 

just finished battlestar galactica. good cheesy fun.

OG or the RDM one?

the 2004 version.

Did you watch the 3 spinoff movies as well

[Rubin Farr]

Fargo ep.7 - Quality episode with things falling into place. That bus crash with Nikki was nicely done. Wondering if there's more to her character in regards to Varga than just a loose end. Also Ennis is looking more important than just an accidental kill...

 

Many questions left; why do Vargas' men want Nikki, why did he call off the hit on her, how did DJ Qualls get past all of those cops and out of the building without even being spotted, why would a trained bus driver completely swerve in the snow bc of a single man in the road?  That was far fetched.

 

I liked Nikki's capture, a call back to William Macy crawling out the bathroom window in the movie.  Also, Stussy's reaction to the cop was hilarious, I had to let out an "oooh he's fucked"

[olo]

 

  Also, Stussy's reaction to the cop was hilarious, I had to let out an "oooh he's fucked"

 

Yea, he done. He was going full Bravado just the moment prior with his dinner party to full on shit the bed with the cop. 

 

Nice also seeing Mr. Wrench on the bus next to Nikki.

 

wtf DJ Qualls indeed.

[Rubin Farr]

I know I recognized that guy, but it escaped me. So he's the only character to appear in all 3 seasons huh.

[DavieAddison]

The new police chief is the worst part of the show, really poorly written. He exists just to antagonize Gloria Burlge and move the plot forward.

[doublename]

That character takes me out of the show every time he's on screen. He's like a South Park parody of the clueless police chief trope. 

Edited June 2, 2017 by doublename

[olo]

It's like mashed potatoes.

[eugene]

well if the dr. van something can build a machine to bring the people back and forth then why the fuck he didn't industrialize the whole process and brought the 2% back to the 98% world to solve the whole problem, huh? cunts.