I’ll begin with a disclaimer. I am not the target audience for this series, which I’m guessing are people born in this millennium, so some of the areas I had trouble with will actually be a plus for the target audience. The music, for example, I found to be loud and distracting. I kept muting it until I knew there was dialogue. Otherwise, the heart of this series is the couple and the context is the star crossed lovers of two house who are sworn enemies. The charm of the series rests entirely on Sarah Catherine Hook. Everything else would have been a colossal crash had they not cast her, her adorableness and talent saved the day. There are some bright spots in the supporting cast, but, by and large, the acting is uneven. The writing is all over the place, the characters are poorly drawn and the story arc often gets lost in translation. Basically, the audience that stays are there for the love story. I give this series a 6.5 (good in parts) out of 10. [Supernatural Romance]
I thought this movie was quite good, especially for a Netflix original, though I do agree the ending fell a bit flat.
The writing is strong. It's a great example of show, not tell, as there was very little exposition in this unfamiliar world and yet we could easily understand what was going on.
All the actors did an incredible job of having to show a wide range of extreme emotions, sometimes having to switch between them quite quickly. Smollett is always a dream to watch, please put her in everything. Even Hemsworth, who is usually just meh to me did a fantastic job in this. I'm excited to see him in more films that have this quality of direction and writing.
The plot does a good job of exploring the intersections of late stage capitalism meets carceral culture. The themes of redemption, love and forgiveness through the narrative without needing to hammer down on these too much. Though I do enjoy a deep, heady, academic exploration of these topics, I also like when a story can let the morals come through via the emotional impact of the narrative, and this movie does that well, allowing us to meet the prisoners as people first, seeing their humanity before we learn of their mistakes, and feel appalled at how they are experimented on.
The twists were well delivered and the pacing was perfect for me, keeping me glued to the story while giving the characters space to do emotional development in the quiet moments.
All in all I had a great time. More of this please!
Lol at the country vicar sitting up in bed naked in his draughty, uninsulated, cottage on the windy Essex Fens... gotta give the fans some Tom tiddies...
That being said, this is Victorian gothic melodrama, anyone expecting Jaws crossed with Anaconda will be sorely disappointed. I felt this was a fairly well done adaptation of the book. It was heaped with praise on publication, yet when I read it I was a bit underwhelmed. This captures that feeling. The elements are there, the sum of the whole is just a bit 'meh'...
An entertaining Romancing the Stone rip-off. That is better than it has a right to be due to the perfect cast. As well as plenty of laughs. Though I was never feeling the romance aspect of the movie.
It is enjoyable to watch the movie, and it moves fast so you won't be bored. It has good laughs and it discusses a good idea at the end so it is not just a waste of time.
A brilliant adaptation of the classic with some twists that in my opinion do not harm the history. I would go as far as it improves it, but again that is just my opinion.
It is for me the best adaptation I've seen of Jules Verne's book. The characters are well cast, so if you like adventure, drama and a little comedy don't miss this show.
Its a story that has been reimagined countless times.
There are some clear political messages in here (not really hidden) that weren't in the original work, but I don't think it hurt the story.
I think this is an amazing piece. I don't want something that is just like the original - copies are boring - I want something that catches the spirit of the original and I think they did a splendid job of doing that.
Ms. Fix is an added character that actually makes sense and David Tennant - one of the most talented actors alive - does an excellent job of portraying Phileas Fogg.
Rough start in relation the the book, a few things added that seem out of place, but if you can ignore that it’s a really good show. First episode frustrated me with the above issues but by the third it started to pull together. At first I was ready to give it up and now I can’t wait for the next episode. Wish Matt have his upbeat attitude like in the books but he seams more depressed and angry than a jokester.
Update: absolute shit. It’s not an adaption of the books, it’s a different story. Completely different.
When Apple TV launched (with The Morning Show, See, and Dickinson) there was only one show that was tolerable out of their limited selection: For All Mankind. Anyhow, after its meh first season, the series immediately turned itself around in its second year where we finally see how speculative the concept of the Russians reaching the Earth would look like.
Anyways, this season creates some amazing dynamics and merges the real historical events with the whole nukes and guns on the moon concept. In the beginning of the season, you notice these characters have changed drastically, and they develop even further once the finale ends. One critic I love stated this is similar to another show that lifted up until its second season, that's Halt and Catch Fire. The reason for that series's turn of quality was that the writers discovered the women of the series were the driving force, not the men. The outstanding performances came from Shantal VanSanten as the astronaut wife turned bar owner Karen, Wrenn Schmidt as the headstrong and heartfelt Margo, Jodi Balfour as the closeted and conflicted Ellen, Krys Waller as the undermined yet loyal Danielle, Sarah Jones as astronaut turned celebrity Tracy and Sonya Walger as the badass Molly (who is most likely Starbucks ancestor). Don't who would be up for lead or supporting, but if the Emmy's at least picks one of these women, they'd be doing something grateful. I'd even say Michael Dorman steals the show with his character arc that has us root for the once jerk astro jock to the now pot bellied dead beat drunk.
I gave this an 8, which means there are flaws. There's a storyline between Karen and Gordo's son, that's best to forget about like Landry killing a guy in Friday Night Lights. But all in all, this is a sophisticated season of TV with one of the most thrilling and heartbreaking episodes to appear on the small screen (the finale, which I praised about on its TrakTV page). But there are some terrific ways in which history is intertwined with this alternate reality, such as the Korean Airflight 007 which results in a terrific two episode arc in which the characters interact with their Russian foe (or friends?). Even how they discuss placing nuclear weapons on the moon, and requesting astronauts use artillery is done in a very serious manner that doesn't have viewers roll their eyes, but ask what if the Moon turned into the next colonialist site.
Anyways, S2 concludes with two major cliffhangers that will have you requesting S3 ASAP. It'll be interesting to see how much the science of this series develops as the creators question how far human technological advancements would have gone had we stayed in the sky. When the series was first pitched, the concept sounded so limited and could only work as a miniseries like The Plot Against America, but Ronald D. Moore and company show there more to speculate beyond the moon. So much to think about, though it is sad from the very ending, you know some characters won't be coming back or they won't be playing as big of role as they did in the first two seasons. And if the characters haven't grown on you after S1, they will here. Damn good TV!
still a better love story than twilight.
What a huge waste of a perfectly good Skarsgård. This would be bad even for CW standards but Netflix? Wow, they just hit a new low.
WTF TELL ME THEN DIDN'T ACTUALLY JUST CANCELED THIS AND THIS IS JUST ONE HELL OF A MESS UP JOKE.. PLEASE TELL ME THAT...
FUCK I'M SO PISSED RIGHT NOW...
If Tarantino and David Lynch had a baby...it would be this show... Story wise it's a slow build up but so action packed... I finished it it in day and a half... and Abigail Spencer is ufff briliance
Play dead, motherf___er. Contradicting many people's thoughts, I loved this. I loved how the stories unfolded, the way you learn about these characters as we go on. The music may have been a distraction during certain scenes, but honestly, I didn't mind it. I got so invested that I just couldn't take my eyes off what I'm seeing. The action is top-notch, the actors and actresses played their parts amazingly well. Quynh showing up at the end opened up so many possibilities ahead. If there is going to be a sequel in the future, you can bet I'll be watching.
Entertaining movie with an interesting story. The movie had more depths in the characters than I expected, which was nice. The acting was good and the fighting performances were exciting. Overall it was great to see Charlize Theron kick ass again and I guess we'll see more of it in the sequel which clearly is already in the works.
was somewhat disappointed. Production was lacking in many episodes. Felt like a CW show. Dion comes across as annoying.
Very disappointing show. The drama is so bad, it's melodrama. One would wonder why this kind of TV show gets out, with poor sci-fi, poor drama, poor writing.
I was very enthused about this once I heard it was Lindlehoff at the helm. The Leftovers is one of my all time favorites, and this series promises to be a deep dive thematically with him at the helm. The series opener is as smart and interesting as I expected, but I was happy to see that it delivers on the action elements, as well. Very solid beginning - I'm psyched to see where it goes.
This is one of my most anticipated series for this year.
[9.1/10] Jean Smart is a revelation. Her Laurie Blake has a Dr. House-like aura, far from the semi-naive young woman following in her mother’s footsteps, she is the uber-competent, seen-it-all, as cynical as she is capable representative of the old guard. “She Was Killed by Space Junk” puts a lot on Laurie’s shoulders, and a lot on Smart’s shoulders, and the result is Watchmen’s best episode yet.
What makes the character's entrance work is that she is both a bridge to the original Watchmen story in the most direct way yet, but also someone who can offer a different perspective on the main story of this new series. So far, despite our sojourns to visit Veidt and the occasional flashback to Germany, this series has treated Tulsa as the whole world, with all of the events, political intrigue, unrest, and character having their lives orbit this one community and its larger tensions.
Bringing in Laurie Blake, the daughter of the original Silk Spectre and The Comedian and the head of the FBI’s anti-vigilante task force, as the feds’ representative to investigate Sheriff Crawford’s death, helps pull back our perspective a bit.
We see someone who treats Keane Jr. (who, I’m a little ashamed to admit, I just now realized is likely the son of the author of the original anti-superhero act) with contempt for his ambition and politicking rather than admiration and respect. We see someone who cuts through the protective veneer that the Tulsa police force has erected around itself, quickly getting secret identities, “racist detectors”, and closed ranks local communities in and intuitive, almost causal way. And we see someone who casts explicit doubt on masked cops being any different than the masks vigilantes she’s developed a sincere contempt for over the years.
So much of Watchmen’s early going has been steeped in Angela’s perspective on this community, on the threat the police are responding to, and on its major players. By filtering this now-familiar world through Laurie’s perspective, someone who comes with the authority of being an original Watchmen lead character out-of-universe and her family history in it, it gives the whole situation a different spin. Like the feds descending on a town with very specific power balances and investigating a ground-shaking murder in Twin Peaks, Laurie and her junior associate arriving in Tulsa gives us one more reason to question the rightness of what’s going here, on either side of the thin blue line.
In a much more direct sense, we’re left to wonder what’s going on either side of Adiran Veidt’s property. To be frank, “She Was Killed by Space Junk” more or less stops dead in the middle to check in with him. We see our most tactile outing with “the smartest man in the world” yet, watching as he draws up blueprints, sews and severs, and eventually creates a suit for one of his automatons to “explore the great beyond.’ That is, until, the experiment fails and his efforts to rectify it leave him running afoul of “The Game Warden.”
That leads me to my (admittedly somewhat out there theory): What if Ozymandias is on Mars? What if Veidt’s “captivity” as described in the letter, is him being transported somewhere by Dr. Manhattan, the erstwhile game warden, so as not to be subject to any threats or investigations on Earth. And now, Veidt is trying to test the limits of his gilded cage and see if he can make it out of his enclosure. There’s a bizarre, separateness to every part of Veidt’s story so far, something that seems itching for a big reveal to let everything fall into place, and that’s the best stab I can make at it so far.
But apart from my grand theorizing, Veidt’s interlude still seems like a detour from the major story of the episode in the from of Laurie arriving in Tulsa, sizing up Angela, and proving herself a formidable presence in the town and in the series. Part of how the show establishes that is with some of its best action sequences and most taught moments of tension.
That comes in the early scene, where Laurie smokes out a Batman-esque masked adventurer by tipping him off to a bank robbery, having her team be the bank robbers, and then springing the trap on him. It’s a great way to establish Laurie’s take-no-crap bona fides, her ability to get into the heads of the vigilantes, and her brutal sense of justice with her willingness to shoot the target in the back (with the implication that she didn’t necessarily know his body armor would stop the bullet).
And you see it at Sheriff Crawford’s funeral, where a member of the Seventh Kavalry (explicitly made a Klan equivalent in the text), tries to hold Senator Keane Jr. hostage with a suicide vest he claims is connected to his heart. Laurie doesn't hesitate, just grabs the ankle-holstered gun she snuck in and pops the guy in the head, with the bullet inches away from the senator. Turns out the hostage-taker was telling the truth, and Angela has to drag his corpse into the grave and push Crawford’s coffin on top of it to stifle the explosion. It’s a hell of a set piece, showing the two women’s capabilities when they work together, even if their exchange later in the episode shows them at odd.
But it also shows Laurie in line with someone unexpected -- her father. The woman we meet decades after the events of the original comic has taken her father’s surname, and with it, his worldview. Like her dad, she now works for the government, calling masked adventurers “jokes” and does the bidding of the FBI. Like her dad, she thinks all of the noble-minded vigilanteism is bullshit. And like her dad, she’s seen too much, done too much, lost too much, that to be anything but caustic would be too painful.
That’s why the piece de resistance of “She Was Killed by Space Junk” is the frame element of the episode, where Laurie tells a joke (well, technically two jokes) to Dr. Manhattan through a box that’s theoretically sending the message to him on Mars. It sums up her nihilism, where no matter whether you’ve done good, done bad, or don’t recognize the distinction, everyone’s going to hell anyway, so you may as well act accordingly.
Her tears on the phone, her final laugh at the absurdity of the car that falls out of the sky, signify the ascendance of someone who still remembers falling in love with Jon Osterman, who still laments that Dan Dreiberg is (apparently) in jail, and who has assumed the mantle of The Comedian, in deed if not in name. The original Watchmen was about the toll that a life of masked adventuring would actually take on the heroes we so admired in the comics pages. “She Was Killed by Space Junk”, then, is about the toll the events of Watchmen would take on the people who lived through it. Through the character of Laurie, and Smart’s tremendous performance, we see The Comedian’s legacy rearing its ugly head, long after the man himself, and the events his death spurred, have been laid to rest.
Lots of plot holes but you are into sci-fi and survival genre, you will like this.
And that goddamn cliffhanger!
Would love to see season 2.
Fucking movie experts every step of the way these days. The show was fucking amazing! It wasn't perfect but its still great for a Movie night.
