I think I see the need for last episode now, but I still assert this show would be much more interesting if it could be entirely sitcom.
My issue is that I don’t entirely see this series as more than an experiment. As we see more and more, Wandavision is little more than doses of things we’ve seen elsewhere: Truman Show, Annihilation, Pleasantville, Inception. It makes for something decently interesting, but it brings up a branding problem that it feels as though it’s fighting really hard to course-correct. Marvel has built a brand mercilessly for nearly thirteen years now and although we were given the heads up that Phase 4 was going to get a little more out there, I’m not sure how this is correlating yet. When I think Marvel, I’m not sure something like Wandavision is what I’m expecting/wanting and yet when I think of weird, surrealist cinema Wandavision doesn’t really reach the depths of brilliance there either because it has to retain elements of the MCU when it could be David Lynch directs Marvel if they’d run with it.
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@the_argentinian to me, those are the most interesting parts! To each their own
I think I see the need for last episode now, but I still assert this show would be much more interesting if it could be entirely sitcom.
My issue is that I don’t entirely see this series as more than an experiment. As we see more and more, Wandavision is little more than doses of things we’ve seen elsewhere: Truman Show, Annihilation, Pleasantville, Inception. It makes for something decently interesting, but it brings up a branding problem that it feels as though it’s fighting really hard to course-correct. Marvel has built a brand mercilessly for nearly thirteen years now and although we were given the heads up that Phase 4 was going to get a little more out there, I’m not sure how this is correlating yet. When I think Marvel, I’m not sure something like Wandavision is what I’m expecting/wanting and yet when I think of weird, surrealist cinema Wandavision doesn’t really reach the depths of brilliance there either because it has to retain elements of the MCU when it could be David Lynch directs Marvel if they’d run with it.
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@benhanchett I definitely see where you're coming from, but I'm actually kind of into the weirdly unfunny jokes that are here now because it feels authentic to crappy sitcoms and also plays as surreal and slightly creepy. But I do agree that this approach feels half-assed!
Until this point, Bebop is a fun anime with a neat aesthetic. This episode changed a lot of that for me. The montage as Spike is falling from the cathedral is magnificent.
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@palharesf agreed! And since the site uses season/episode naming for URLs rather than something that would stick through with episode title, the comment doesn't stick to the episode I wrote it for.
Until this point, Bebop is a fun anime with a neat aesthetic. This episode changed a lot of that for me. The montage as Spike is falling from the cathedral is magnificent.
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@palharesf few months back the episode order got reshuffled on this site. S01E05 used to be Ballad of Fallen Angels.
I think I see the need for last episode now, but I still assert this show would be much more interesting if it could be entirely sitcom.
My issue is that I don’t entirely see this series as more than an experiment. As we see more and more, Wandavision is little more than doses of things we’ve seen elsewhere: Truman Show, Annihilation, Pleasantville, Inception. It makes for something decently interesting, but it brings up a branding problem that it feels as though it’s fighting really hard to course-correct. Marvel has built a brand mercilessly for nearly thirteen years now and although we were given the heads up that Phase 4 was going to get a little more out there, I’m not sure how this is correlating yet. When I think Marvel, I’m not sure something like Wandavision is what I’m expecting/wanting and yet when I think of weird, surrealist cinema Wandavision doesn’t really reach the depths of brilliance there either because it has to retain elements of the MCU when it could be David Lynch directs Marvel if they’d run with it.
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@dastenhero there's definitely something endearing about them. The craft on display there is pretty neat, down to the retro-VFX and the mono sound.
I’m running out of things to say because I’m so bored
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@tupyh8cb78xnwu2t lmao deep. I'm in the industry so it's good for me to watch stuff, even stuff I don't like. But thanks for your insinuation that I'm a fool!
Wasn't a big fan of the unmotivated editing during some of the fight scenes, but that doesn't take away from a very strong pilot. The world building, the re-introduction, the updating to a universe finally back in the limelight is very exciting. Watchmen is one of my favorite pieces of literature and Lindelof is one of my favorite showrunners. This feels tailor-made for me and I could not be more excited about it.
This is a significant improvement over the dumpster fire that is the Snyder adaptation.
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@calex There's a hand-to-hand fight inside the trailer directly after that. The editing of that sequence had a ton of unmotivated cuts that felt jumpy as opposed to if Eisenberg has cut on action for a little more fluidity. There were also just a ton of shots used for that scene that made it feel pretty cutty to me. Not saying conceptually it's not very good (it is), purely critiquing the editing.
Genuinely don’t understand the hate for this film. I thought it was pretty solid. I was moved. Great cinematography.
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@jordanculp20 I mean if it's not your thing, it's not your thing! No biggie. To me, I was very connected to Theo--particularly as a child. It felt as though his struggle was that of being jostled around, of being swept under the rug and others taking advantage of him.
As for what was good about this movie, again it's all subjective so I'm clearly not going to make you like this film and that's okay by me. But I found a lot I enjoyed about the film beyond the obviously outstanding cinematography (duh, it's Deakins). I though Kidman gave a great performance, so did Wright. I myself keyed into the editing during the film and I thought it handed quite a lot of material pretty handily. There were quite a few dissolves that impressed me and generally speaking the eye trace was impressive. I thought the conceit of using jump cuts to bounce through space (much like memory does) pretty interesting to my eye.
As for what the point was, it felt to me like the film was just trying to tell us there's not sense striving for what has past because time is fleeting. It's a decently nihilistic message, but I thought it was nice. Particularly a fan of how it came together with the closing shot.
Again, if it's not your thing that's fine. But I liked it and I'm not sorry that I did!
I think I see the need for last episode now, but I still assert this show would be much more interesting if it could be entirely sitcom.
My issue is that I don’t entirely see this series as more than an experiment. As we see more and more, Wandavision is little more than doses of things we’ve seen elsewhere: Truman Show, Annihilation, Pleasantville, Inception. It makes for something decently interesting, but it brings up a branding problem that it feels as though it’s fighting really hard to course-correct. Marvel has built a brand mercilessly for nearly thirteen years now and although we were given the heads up that Phase 4 was going to get a little more out there, I’m not sure how this is correlating yet. When I think Marvel, I’m not sure something like Wandavision is what I’m expecting/wanting and yet when I think of weird, surrealist cinema Wandavision doesn’t really reach the depths of brilliance there either because it has to retain elements of the MCU when it could be David Lynch directs Marvel if they’d run with it.
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@tesbreag I can't necessarily blame them, even if I would have preferred it the sitcom way. It's a massive departure from Marvel style so this straddling of styles being somewhat controversial seems to track.
Nice to see this season stop dawdling around and actually advance the plot forward in a meaningful way. The fact that the large questions The Good Place has been asking for years might actually have a resolution is exciting, even if the conclusion will likely end positively--it would just be so tonally off-brand and against the show's thesis for the protagonists to fail.
But what gripe I really have is with the logic of the judge's ruling. It really doesn't make sense. How would a hard reboot of Earth even sort of start to guarantee that things would improve? A hard reset feels blatantly unfair and although that's the necessity in order to incite the show's next act, it doesn't make sense coming from the being who is supposed to be literally the most fair person in the universe. I'm not sure what would have been a better move, though. But because this is the path that we've set forward, it feels as though the season arc didn't need as many episodes as we're getting. Considering so many episodes have been spent spinning their wheels, it almost feels like perhaps this show could have wrapped up with a significantly more truncated season--but I wouldn't be surprised if NBC wouldn't go for it.
That said, there is good stuff in this episode. I like seeing characters showing deep understanding of each other. And hearing Bad Janet say "I don't have to poop, I choose to" was fantastic.
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@sophiefilo16 agreed! I like this.
Frequently descends into a wash of confusing and cerebral devices. Never bad, but often I found that I got far more enjoyment out of this season when I didn't try to focus so intently on the show. I'd be more likely to give this season a five if it weren't for the visuals and the narration by Jon Hamm, which make the season far more watchable than if they were absent.
Special shout out given to the fact that this show wants to treat its audiences with so much intelligence but is often undermined by the choices in the editing and sound design (which repeat bits and pieces of content that I'd much rather have to remember on my own). It became a much more passive experience to watch than I would have hoped, but oh well.
I will need to take a break on this show before tackling season three. A shame. I already had to take a two month break in the middle of this season.
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@abstractals Oh that is a shame. I'll probably give it a go at some point. I'm going to need a break for now though!