The TV shows you've seen recently thread.

[fistfulofmetal]

Luke Cage

Finished this up over the weekend. I really liked the first half of the show. As I mentioned, it reminded me quiet a bit of The Wire. Cottonmouth as a villain was immediately engaging in the same way Stringer Bell was engaging. It's not a perfect 1:1 obviously, but the influence is obvious to me.

Luke Cage felt like, what if Omar was bulletproof? Seeing Cage interfering with Cottonmouths criminal activity was super entertaining. Like, what is Cottonmouth gonna do?

Then we hit the midway of the show. It's a very clear and obvious pivot. Spoilers for the rest:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Mariah kills Cottonmouth. It happens right after we get some kind of character development from him. I dont think Mariah is as compelling of a villain as Cottonmouth, nor do I think the actor is very good in this role. She gets better, slightly as things go one but the vacuum left behind is never really filled by someone as compelling. And it's not just Mariah. The reveal of Diamondback was subpar as was the reveal he's Cage's brother. I really rolled my eyes when that happened. I really didn't like the fact that Diamondback was around without any connection to Cage, then coincidentally they happen to meet again. It was awkward. Also Diamondback wasn't a very compelling villain either.

[close]

Beyond those specific things, the second half of the show just felt far more "Marvel Netflix" showy. Even with the standard slump 3/4ths of the way through.

So yeah, overall it's still good but they kinda botch things in the second half.

[toku]

[Mupepe]

Yep. Westworld was great.

[fistfulofmetal]

Luke Cage is easily the best thing Marvel Studios have ever done. I fucking love it.

How far are you through it?

[fistfulofmetal]

Luke Cage is easily the best thing Marvel Studios have ever done. I fucking love it.

How far are you through it?

Five episodes right now.

Ok, curious to know what you think after all is said and done. I thought the same thing at this point in watching it as well.

[seagrams hotsauce]

Finished off episode six. Really digging everything but the music, which is really inappropriate sometimes. Adrian Younge is terrible imho

[toku]

Finished off episode six. Really digging everything but the music, which is really inappropriate sometimes. Adrian Younge is terrible imho

[seagrams hotsauce]

12 reasons to die sucks and that delfonics album isn't very good either

[Phoenix Dark]

Adrian Younge is pretty trash tho...but everything I've read about the show's music sounds great.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[seagrams hotsauce]

I mean the music is fine most of the time, though it's still the same rote throwback shit AY is known for, it's just completely out of place with certain scenes. Like I'm about 10 minutes into episode 8 right now and the music sounds like some straight up scooby doo shit.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

[close]

[toku]

sounds good to me and that you need to bless up

[Phoenix Dark]

It's easy to forget that some of the best songwriters in modern contemporary music history were writing for Motown, Stax, Gold World Records etc in the 1960s. I've never heard anyone perfectly replicate that sound. Younge's take on 60s soul/pop is often egregious to me due to how slow and airless his compositions are, plus the absence of memorable singers. Sometimes he knocks it out the park but usually I'm left very frustrated by his work. I can probably count the amount of songs I like of his on one or two hands. I like that calypso track he did on Kendrick's Untitled Unmastered album; Ali Shaheed Muhammad, who worked with Younge on Luke Cage's soundtrack, co-produced it. I like his sample on that Q track I posted too.

BTW he released an electronic album a few days ago that of course is "inspired" by 60s/70s electronic and synth music. I listened to a couple tracks and gave up. Same problem.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Apollo Brown's version of 12 Reasons To Die>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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[seagrams hotsauce]

Music is fine and fits in with the blaxploitation tone. Licensed tracks are fucking great, btw. Some of my favorite soul tracks.

I think it's a little on the nose in that regard.

I'm probably coming across as overly critical though, it's a minor flaw and more just me being a pedant than a genuine complaint. I do think it's cool how they bring in actual artists into the club and like you said the tracks they use are great. Sidenote on the music; someone on twitter pointed out that he listens to a censored version of Bring Da Ruckus, which is a nice touch. The clean version of 36 Chambers also just skips it entirely so I like to imagine that at some point Luke figured out Audacity just so he could make his own radio edit

[king of the internet]

Last Man on Earth stays underrated. Every episode is so good. Only negative is January Jones.

[Madrun Badrun]

Stranger Things was just excellent. 

[CatsCatsCats]

Westworld set up was really good, I hope the pay off is good too

[Bebpo]

I'm only 4 eps into Luke Cage, but did they basically change his comic book character into an MMO Paladin in the TV show?  He seems to be this holy warrior type guy now. 

[Madrun Badrun]

https://twitter.com/cheo_coker/status/783724741718704128

[Beezy]

damn

[Dennis]

Finally got around to watching the first episode of Westworld.

Pretty damn good and much better than the reviews had me anticipating.

If it continues like this I am all aboard.

Some mysteries to keep you wanting more too.

Speculation:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Dolores is Yul Brynner.

[close]

[CatsCatsCats]

I'm just waiting for the inevitable moment you find out someone who you thought was human isn't

[Mupepe]

I'm just waiting for the inevitable moment you find out someone who you thought was human isn't

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Psycho Ed Harris?  That's my guess.  He escaped and now he's back to play.

[close]

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

I like Westworld.  Much better than the boiled shit HBO has been pushing this year (Vinyl, High Maintenance)

[TakingBackSunday]

Luke Cage

[Mupepe]

Disclaimer: I know the tv show isn't out yet and I'm reviewing something different and I haven't finished - I don't care

I started reading American Gods because I had always liked the premise and then when the tv show was announced it pushed me to actually read it.  I'm pretty let down so far.  I'm about halfway through and in some ways the writing is on par with a video game.  Shadow has to be one of the most dry and boring characters ever.  Gaiman throws out really good ideas and then fumbles them with some cringe worthy dialogue and YA novel tier prose.  I really hope the tv show can clean these parts up and do Gaiman's great ideas justice.

Edit: I'm also reading the 10th anniversary "preferred text" edition so I'm not sure if that makes much of a difference.

[chronovore]

Disclaimer: I know the tv show isn't out yet and I'm reviewing something different and I haven't finished - I don't care

I started reading American Gods because I had always liked the premise and then when the tv show was announced it pushed me to actually read it.  I'm pretty let down so far.  I'm about halfway through and in some ways the writing is on par with a video game.  Shadow has to be one of the most dry and boring characters ever.  Gaiman throws out really good ideas and then fumbles them with some cringe worthy dialogue and YA novel tier prose.  I really hope the tv show can clean these parts up and do Gaiman's great ideas justice.

Edit: I'm also reading the 10th anniversary "preferred text" edition so I'm not sure if that makes much of a difference.

I'll tell ya, I had pretty much the same reaction to Shadow, and was not bowled over by American Gods in general. It felt like a mediocre extension of the theistic theories he explored in Sandman, but without the compelling Endless characters around which to drape it. My best guess is that Shadow is an unlikely everyman on which the reader can project themselves. However Gaiman explores similar territory in the Neverwhere story to greater effect. Because Neverwhere's Richard is actually a character instead of a cipher.

[CajoleJuice]

The 2nd episode of Westworld is on HBO Now and Go and On-Demand and it's unsurprisingly really good.

[Mupepe]

Disclaimer: I know the tv show isn't out yet and I'm reviewing something different and I haven't finished - I don't care

I started reading American Gods because I had always liked the premise and then when the tv show was announced it pushed me to actually read it.  I'm pretty let down so far.  I'm about halfway through and in some ways the writing is on par with a video game.  Shadow has to be one of the most dry and boring characters ever.  Gaiman throws out really good ideas and then fumbles them with some cringe worthy dialogue and YA novel tier prose.  I really hope the tv show can clean these parts up and do Gaiman's great ideas justice.

Edit: I'm also reading the 10th anniversary "preferred text" edition so I'm not sure if that makes much of a difference.

I'll tell ya, I had pretty much the same reaction to Shadow, and was not bowled over by American Gods in general. It felt like a mediocre extension of the theistic theories he explored in Sandman, but without the compelling Endless characters around which to drape it. My best guess is that Shadow is an unlikely everyman on which the reader can project themselves. However Gaiman explores similar territory in the Neverwhere story to greater effect. Because Neverwhere's Richard is actually a character instead of a cipher.

Yeah at first I thought Shadow was supposed to be a blank canvas to help you experience the story, but he writes in just enough personality that if that's what he was going for it's ineffective... especially in contrast with characters like Mr Wednesday who actually have a lot of charm.  So far the idea far exceed the execution.  It's the first thing I've read from him and might be the last.  Mirrormask was pretty awesome though so he'll always get a thumbs up for that.

[toku]

[Olivia Wilde Homo]

Decided to binge Eastbound and Down.  Still a great show:

[benjipwns]

I actually kinda like MacGyver. It's like a true remake, lots of the stuff is just as goofy as I remember the original series back as a kid only with cell phones and wifi and so on.

I'm not sure some of the methodology is as sound as the original though.

[MMaRsu]

Decided to binge Eastbound and Down.  Still a great show:

Haha thanks for linking that, god I love Eastbound.

[Madrun Badrun]

Brooklyn Nine Nine is pretty damn good

[Madrun Badrun]

https://twitter.com/MarvelIronFist/status/784898542737293313

[VomKriege]

Old Boy hallway scene remake ? 

[Dennis]

Westworld episode 2 continues to impress.

English writer guy and female head of security scenes continue to be terrible though.

[Tasty]

Luke Cage

- First half was great, as said
- I upgrade my judgment of "Mike Colter can't act" from Jessica Jones to "Mike Colter can barely act"
- Diamondback comes out of nowhere and his past with Luke could have used more foreshadowing
- Shades was great
- Didn't buy that Mariah was "more dangerous" than Cottonmouth
- Diamondback's stupid suit = - Power Man's suit cameo was quaint and nice, this wasn't
- Lovely to see Claire in a bigger role, perhaps her biggest so far (her only being a glorified cameo in JJ pissed me off)
- Luke x Claire seems forced (Matt x Claire and Luke x Jessica ftw)
- Less filler in the last stretch of eps than DD s1 or JJ but still wobbly on the rails a little
- Still don't have enough info about Reva or the USB drive she died for despite this being the big origin for that
- Fight choreography blew less chunks than JJ but still blew huge chunks compared to either DD season
- Diamondback's actor was a poor man's Tony Todd, bet they were pissed he went to The Flash instead
- Funky music

Daredevil Season 2 > Daredevil Season 1 > Jessica Jones > Luke Cage

But they're all great. Looking forward to Iron Fist though the premise seems like Dr. Strange x Daredevil and we'll have already gotten that by the time IF premieres. Still, Marvel Netflix has all been super solid and I'm out of my mind excited for The Defenders.

[Tasty]

Nutting so hard

[Bebpo]

Luke Cage got really stupid in ep8. 

Spoilers:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

How do you make a Luke Cage show?  Apperently instead of giving him a super villain with powers of someone clever enough to figure out a way to trap, beat him, you shoot him with a bigger gun and that takes his power down so he's weak Luke Cage.  Not only is that super lame writing, but Cage is fucking bulletproof.  He can't be shot even by a super bullet.  This is so stupid.

Also stupid?  Playing his fugitive backstory card so he now has an identity he has to hide LIKE EVERY OTHER SUPER HERO.  That's one of the things I liked about Cage in the comic is he doesn't have to hide his identity, he just goes out and kicks some ass.  This seems like another lame writing bit and uneeded change from the character.

Also Diamondback is lame.  RIP cottenmouth.

[close]

[brawndolicious]

Luke Cage got really stupid in ep8. 

Spoilers:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

How do you make a Luke Cage show?  Apperently instead of giving him a super villain with powers of someone clever enough to figure out a way to trap, beat him, you shoot him with a bigger gun and that takes his power down so he's weak Luke Cage.  Not only is that super lame writing, but Cage is fucking bulletproof.  He can't be shot even by a super bullet.  This is so stupid.

Also stupid?  Playing his fugitive backstory card so he now has an identity he has to hide LIKE EVERY OTHER SUPER HERO.  That's one of the things I liked about Cage in the comic is he doesn't have to hide his identity, he just goes out and kicks some ass.  This seems like another lame writing bit and uneeded change from the character.

Also Diamondback is lame.  RIP cottenmouth.

[close]

Not a spoiler for you:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

I'd say just wait and see how you like his identity/superhero persona whatever as the show goes on. I felt like they did a really good job on that by the end.

[close]

I agree that the villains in the first season were weak but that seems intentional since the point is to show a black man dealing with black people problems. Plus he's going through the process of figuring whether he's willing to fight or not so it only makes sense that the first asses he kicks belong to his moral opposites rather than some super villains.

[Bebpo]

Yeah that's fine and all and it's why ep1-6 were good.  Diamondback and JUDAS is still super dumb so far 2 eps into this 2nd arc.  It actually takes away from the black man dealing with black problems because now it's black man dealing with dumbass villians through bad writing plot events to make it so Cage doesn't just walk over and knock the guy out in 2 seconds and move on.

I actually thought Cottonmouth was the best antagonist in Marvel Netflix shows so far.  He hams it up so good, but just nails that believable character stuck in a situation he spiraling downhill.  I thought the flashback helped flesh out why he is the way he is.  Plus the over-the-top comic stuff was great like pulling a rocket launcher out of his ass.  For other Marvel antagonists, Kingpin was ok but was manbaby, Punisher wasn't really an antagonist, Nobu was lame, and I'm not a fan of JJ.

[Madrun Badrun]

HAM was great.  I like

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Shades + Maria

[close]

[toku]

Luke Cage spoilers all around:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Cottonmouth was the best villain in the show but I liked Diamondback just for how ridiculous and hammy he is, dude was always entertaining to me. The villain I couldn't muster up any fucks to give about was Maria.

[close]

This how I felt about him as well.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Not a great replacement but I love how hammy he was.

[close]

[Bebpo]

Finished Luke Cage.  So diamondback was actually pretty awesome in his crazy gospel preaching.  The transition to the second half was bad and ep7-9 was rough to get through.  I felt like 10-12 picked it back up again but what was that final episode?  Like it barely felt like anything had closure, even diamondback plot line is still open.  It's really weird because the other Marvel Netflix seasons were self contained.  It almost feels like the last episode was one big setup for The Defenders/Daughters of the Dragon.  I appreciated the Misty Knight hair and outfit tease, although the fake tease for her losing her arm so she can get her comic book mecha arm on was kinda lame :p Ofherwise I thought Misty was really good in the show, probably better than Cage. 

Dawson being a romantic interest is kinda weird.  Are they not going to pair him with JJ in Defenders?  Hmmm...

I could see Defenders starting off with Matt meeting Luke as his attorney.

[Dennis]

Third episode of Westworld and still the best new show on air.

But it is a little hard to see how they can keep the show like this for multiple seasons.

[seagrams hotsauce]

Maybe, though

spoiler (click to show/hide)

Judging from the hints that it's a front for some type of military R&D I wouldn't be surprised if they end up away from Westworld itself eventually

[close]

[toku]

Third episode of Westworld and still the best new show on air.

But it is a little hard to see how they can keep the show like this for multiple seasons.

If it's anything like Jonathan Nolan's other show they can/will. The main thing he does, is he's not going to give any easy answers or solutions to the questions the show show is asking.

[Mupepe]

What is his other show?

[Dickie Dee]

Didn't he do Person of Interest?

Hope that comes to Netflix some day

[Steve Contra]

Westworld is great so far.  I haven't quite warmed up James Marsden but Thandie Newton and Rachel Evan Wood are amazing.  I also like the air of menace around Anthony Hopkins.  I was afraid he was going to be the equivalent of Richard Attenborough in Jurassic Park.

[seagrams hotsauce]

Didn't he do Person of Interest?

Hope that comes to Netflix some day

It already is, which reminds me that I've been meaning to check out season 5 again

[Bebpo]

Luke Cage

So Shades seems like a weirdly written character in the end.  I have no idea what they were trying to do with him.

spoiler (click to show/hide)

He acts all hard around Cottonmouth and Maria, but then in the club shootout in ep10 he acts like a scared little punk and then gets his ass beat by a near-dead Misty with one-arm and a nurse.  But then in the last couple of eps they try to make him all tough scary gangster again.  It's just weird.  I could never figure out what the point of his character was in the show and they never really did anything with him by the end. 

Also keeping Diamondback around to become LUKE CAGE 2.0 super soldier in S2 seems really dumb.  Not-Jon-Lovitz doctor is sorta why is he still in this show.

[close]

Ok, and problems with the hanging narratives:

spoiler (click to show/hide)

So in the last fight (which sucked), they decide to focus on a flashback of the two boxing.  Why?  When it started the flashback I thought it was going to flashback to what happened when Diamondback setup Cage and got him sent to prison, which would've made narrative sense.  Also they never went into the flashback of exactly what happened to his old gf from the prison. 

While it's clear that this stuff is all being saved for S2, narrative-wise, you've already had a 13ep drawn out origin story season.  Do you really want to still be dealing with origin story stuff in S2?  Like it's just such an odd decision.  The final ep should've closed off a lot of this stuff, been a complete narrative arc and then you're done with origin season and season 2 on can be new stories about Luke Cage.  It feels like S1 is half of the origin season and they're doing it as a two season story arc.

[close]

[Freyj]

Black Mirror Season 3: Shut Up and Dance

Jesus fucking Christ

[toku]

Black Mirror Season 3: Shut Up and Dance

Jesus fucking Christ

Good ep but "San Junipero" tho

spoiler (click to show/hide)

still crying

[close]

[Mupepe]

Ep 1 is ok. Good, not great IMO. Ep 2 starts off terrible, but about 15 minutes in goes uphill and becomes really great.

[Mupepe]

Ep 3 so far...

spoiler (click to show/hide)

fuck it man. It's just my weiner. Whatever.

[close]

[toku]

I still have two more to go but I don't see them topping the fourth. It's also the only ep that seems to deserve/earn its hour long run time too imo. You get an actual well realized arc.

[Freyj]

4 is pretty special, but the perfect use of Exit Music on 3 pushed it over for me.

[toku]

4 is pretty special, but the perfect use of Exit Music on 3 pushed it over for me.

3 was tense throughout im glad it paid off for the end.

[Mupepe]

Damn. 4 was good.