TV of 2015

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Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Re: TV of 2015

#101 Post by Murdoch » Sat Dec 19, 2015 10:35 pm

I fell prey to the fan hype and watched through Ash vs. Evil Dead. As someone who spent his teenage years loving the first two movies, it piqued my interest enough. This is a show definitely made by fans, but fans who have no business putting their ideas to broadcast. It has a few inspired moments, like a possessed toy doll, but so much of it plays like bad fanfiction, but not the ridiculous badness that sometimes dwells in that genre and can inspire awe (see the Harry Potter fanfic Hx30 for that). The cardboard characters I could look past if the dialogue weren't so terrible. It definitely takes its cues largely from the third movie, having the monsters throw one-liner after another at Ash and co. The effects are bad, either on purpose or because of budget limitations. For the most part the decrepit make-up and costumes of the first two are gone and replaced by several scenes of CGI that look like they were made by someone first trying 3D animation.

I actually didn't mind all these faults the first six or so episodes. But there was something in the latest two that opened my eyes to how atrocious this reboot in an era of reboots is. One character, having hunted the protagonists for most of the short season, falls madly in love with Ash. She's not possessed by a confused deadite, but rather the unskilled keyboards of the show's writers. Not that the transformation is all that remarkable. She goes from one-note cop hunting a fugitive to one-note ingenue. It's to be expected from a show that opened with Ash bedding a woman after making up a story about saving a child's life but it took me a while to see the forest for the trees. I don't expect many here were planning on watching this anyway, but if you were I suggest a rewatch of the first movie and then moving along instead.

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carmilla mircalla
Joined: Mon Jul 13, 2015 9:47 pm

Re: Netflix Originals

#102 Post by carmilla mircalla » Wed Dec 23, 2015 1:49 am

dare I say, The Real Rob is actually decent.

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domino harvey
Dot Com Dom
Joined: Wed Jan 11, 2006 2:42 pm

Re: Netflix Originals

#103 Post by domino harvey » Wed Dec 23, 2015 1:57 am

Interesting article on that show's unusual creation and production process

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DarkImbecile
Ask me about my visible cat breasts
Joined: Mon Dec 09, 2013 6:24 pm
Location: Albuquerque, NM

Re: TV of 2015

#104 Post by DarkImbecile » Thu Apr 25, 2019 12:54 pm

warren oates wrote:
Sun Mar 15, 2015 12:09 pm
Robert Durst, subject of HBO's documentary series The Jinx, arrested in New Orleans on a warrant from Los Angeles County.
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Quite the satisfying development for those watching the series, which so far has been playing like an inverse of The Thin Blue Line. Up to now, The Jinx has been the disturbing saga of an obviously guilty man who clearly should be in prison for more than one murder. Hopefully this time he'll finally be convicted.
The filmmakers edited the climactic recording of Durst, removing the surrounding sentences and switching the order of the two key phrases — “What the hell did I do?” and “Killed them all, of course.” — that famously ended the miniseries.

This doesn’t change the other evidence implicating him in the murders, but certainly doesn’t help the case against him and seems like a cheap and unnecessary manipulation for dramatic effect.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: TV of 2015

#105 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Oct 05, 2020 8:15 pm

Murdoch wrote:
Fri Mar 06, 2015 12:58 am
Man Seeking Woman is one of those series destined to be cancelled and turn up years down the line on some list of top "cult" shows. The absurdist humor is often too on-the-nose but one thing I really like about the show is it doesn't revert to the over-used battle of the sexes characterization of dating. Instead the show often portrays Josh and his occasional dates as both trying their best to fight the overwhelming force that people in your life put on potential matches (parents hounding about marriage, friends about sex). The show's strength lies in its ability to highlight the awkwardness often encountered in trying to find a mate, whether it be a sudden blind date that leads to a manhunt by the friends who set it up as they attempt to gauge how the date is going, or dating someone because, well, they're just so good looking. The show's still rough around the edges, especially the pilot which has one too many recurring lines, but you know what Britt Lower's really pretty so I'll give it a pass!
Doing a quick board search, I'm shocked that this show isn't mentioned elsewhere as I figured it would be a forum favorite, at least amongst a few members who enjoy this kind of humor. I'm revisiting it for the first time since it ended, but I'd hyperbolically consider it amongst the most inspired absurdist comedies of the millennium, and your explanation of why it pretty spot on. There's something so relatable and good-natured about the sensitivity of the allegorical gags, even when they hurt or are sourced in reactive meanness! And any show that gets the process of social discomfort and the inherent absurdity of interpersonal existence this right deserves praise, but it's also a very funny and risky show that's far more perverse and eccentric than one would expect, and continues to surprise over the course of three seasons instead of becoming expected or worn, as is the danger with this kind of relentless farce. Unfortunately the DVDs are pricy, but here's hoping eventually a complete blu set gets announced and more can access this underappreciated gem (for those new to the show, the first two eps are a bit weak by comparison, but it finds its footing quickly)

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Murdoch
Joined: Sun Apr 20, 2008 11:59 pm
Location: Upstate NY

Re: TV of 2015

#106 Post by Murdoch » Mon Oct 05, 2020 11:52 pm

Glad to see another fan on here! That was just my write-up for the first season. I think the subsequent seasons cure the awkwardness that I found present early on. I'm definitely due for a rewatch of it. My memory of the show is pretty fuzzy outside of an alien invasion and some throwaway gags but I finished the series and thought it only got better as it went on.

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therewillbeblus
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2015 3:40 pm

Re: TV of 2015

#107 Post by therewillbeblus » Tue Oct 06, 2020 12:07 am

I agree, it does get better and better, and whether non sequiturs or metaphorical magical realism, the creative juices continue to push the boundaries as the show evolves. Even though they're not the 'best' moments, the friend dog pound service/divorce proceedings for friends when one gets in a relationship stand out as memorable inspired bits, as does the Santa ep which most people didn't like but I thought was incredibly clever
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in how it's nonchalantly accepted that he exists with everyone she encounters expressing concern, not because she's insane for believing in Santa, but because "he's a married man!"

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