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bfkiller wrote: I didn't care for episode 2 of LC either (though the opening was fun), but for a different reason. It felt like they crammed an entire season's worth of content into a single episode. The plot and characters have had no chance to breathe.
That part is true to the book. The first two episodes cover the first story in the book. It's a collection of stories featuring a group of friends and family up against cultists and the Cthulhu mythos, more or less. The original story had more room to breathe because there were fewer main characters and monsters. I mentioned above that it seemed like they added in Abbey Lee's character possibly just because she was hot, and actually the same could be said for Jurnee Smollet's character. That, plus writer/producer Misha Green likely wanted more female representation, which is understandable.
I've been writing about all three episodes and we're hitting a bit of a downward trend with the third, despite some good performances and some real high points in the overall. I'm still interested, but I can't say the curve is positive.
bfkiller wrote: I didn't care for episode 2 of LC either (though the opening was fun), but for a different reason. It felt like they crammed an entire season's worth of content into a single episode. The plot and characters have had no chance to breathe.
Aye, that's it! It could have been an interesting three episodes. We could have explored the language of Adam, the order, gotten a motivation for the mind trip. Instead we are left with a simplified antagonist. He just wants to live forever.
The son of a son thing didn't seem to jive with me. In the opening letter it was about his mother's heritage. That would make it his maternal grandmother who escaped. So the "lineage" goes man (grandparents) -> daughter (his mother) -> son (him). Shrug. Nothing big, it just seemed odd and something they could have fixed with zero negatives.
The use of modern music is interesting but it doesn't quite stick the landing. I really enjoyed that technique in Peaky Blinders but I think it worked much better there.
Episode three of Lovecraft Country was exactly what I expected from this series, for better and worse. It wasn't as visually spectacular as the first two episodes (aside from that interesting visual with the photographs on the floor), but the storytelling was more grounded and the music selections were both great and right for the setting. If the show plateaus at the same quality as episode three, I will be happy with this first season.
charlest wrote: The use of modern music is interesting but it doesn't quite stick the landing. I really enjoyed that technique in Peaky Blinders but I think it worked much better there.
I don't hate Marilyn Manson, but I was appalled that one of his songs showed in episode two. The titular track "Whitey's on the Moon" felt wrong for the scene, but I'm glad that I know about its existence now.
Huh, sad to hear LC turned what was basically a script ready short story collection into a bit of a mess. But I understand, the omnipresent racism in the book is mostly internalized fear and past recounted stories, hard to depict on screen in the quantity I'm sure Peele wanted. It was also a white man's imagining of black fear from the 50's which may not jive with modern audiences as much (Umbrella Academy, for example, did much the same thing in season 2).
Odd to think LC needed MORE female characters, the cast was already about 50:50 in the book and the women quite frankly had the cooler adventures IMHO (the show must do the house, the observatory, and the shapeshifting justice).
Finished up Fortitude season 2. It is an odd mess of a season, poorly explained with several loosely interconnected stories that all sort of end (usually with someone dying horribly) without much resolution. For a show filled with languid rambling conversations between characters there are few moments of "HERE IS THE PLOT", the show really would have benefitted from a bit more explanation, particularly exposition we could take as the truth instead of just one characters baseless speculation or outright lie that then is never corrected.
Ted Lasso is absolutely charming. It’s a fish out of water piece as the titular Ted leaves his Division II football behind to coach a Premier League team, a sport he’s never played in a country he’s never visited. It works because it’s an inversion of the ugly American. Ted is loud and inordinately proud of America and unimpressed by more than a few English customs but is never a lout and his boundless kindness and enthusiasm won over even me. It’s a Bill Lawrence piece, so the character work from top to bottom is top notch with special mention to Jason Sudeikis and Hannah Waddingham.
But it’s an Apple TV exclusive, and no one is going to watch it. Maybe they’ll run out of money soon, and Netflix can pick it up for everyone else.
WOW what a gem of a show. It almost perfectly threads the needle between campy and serious, pulls just the right amount from the source material but brings in new elements, and acknowledges current social sensibilities but skewers them just enough with an 80s era mindset to not be performative.
Where the hell has William Zabka been all this time? He hasn't gotten nearly enough work. He and Ralph look entirely too good for their age! I don't think they are gonna address that Ralph is 20 years older than his wife
Yeah, two of the trio of owners are Americans. They're also part-owners of the NJ Devils and one of them is involved with the 76ers and Dignitas, as well. Makes sense logistically, too, since Palace is in south London.
Watched the 6 part Netflix documentary High Score, about the early years of the video game industry. While it's interesting, some of the focus is a bit puzzling.
They bring up controversy surrounding Mortal Kombat and Night Trap, but completely ignore it when it comes to Doom (Columbine).
They also spend an inordinate amount of time talking about early video game competitions, but never even mention Billy Mitchell.
I just think it's a bit too "rose colored glasses."
WOW what a gem of a show. It almost perfectly threads the needle between campy and serious, pulls just the right amount from the source material but brings in new elements, and acknowledges current social sensibilities but skewers them just enough with an 80s era mindset to not be performative.
Where the hell has William Zabka been all this time? He hasn't gotten nearly enough work. He and Ralph look entirely too good for their age! I don't think they are gonna address that Ralph is 20 years older than his wife
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I just finished the second season last night. A few rough spots, but overall they nailed this and Zabka absolutely kills it here. I can't believe Macchio is almost 60, so yeah he is 20 years older than his wife, LOL . That said, in the second season some of Johnny's old buddies show up and they def haven't aged as well. Some of the call outs to the movie are subtle and well done; the show is not afraid to parody itself at times either. This blew me away.
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