Film and Episodic Content Discussion Thread

It was only a matter of minutes before you dropped the proverbial ferret into my bathwater....

 

Julianne Moore is priceless

 

Most of the dialogue between the Dude and Maude is priceless. In the clip below, 3 things jumped out at me:



1 - (Maude) "Uli Kunkul, her costar in the beaver picture?"

(the Dude) clearly nonplussed..."You mean vagina?"

2 - Early in the scene as the Dude makes himself a (what else?) White Russian, there's no milk or half & half, so he uses Cremora (for some reason that slays me).

3 - And David Thewlis' fiendish laughter throughout, along with Maude's

 

Very artfully made visual countdown of the 25 best films of the year made by a guy named David Ehrlich, who has been making these for about 10 years now. Put on headphones, crank it up, and enjoy.

 

I'm midway through episode 3 (of 6) from Netflix' latest grim police procedural, DETECTIVE FORST. I must say, I'm really liking this Polish production.

It's hardly the originality that draws me in ... this series is filled with cliches we've seen often before (the flawed-character lead detective; the aggressive reporter he teams up with; the chief of detectives who suspends the lead detective in episode-2).

However, the scene where the chief suspends the main character ("Give me your ID card. And your gun!) perfectly illustrates why I like the production: it's set outdoors in terrible weather in one of the most starkly beautiful water+tall rock places I've ever seen. The series is set in bizarrely beautiful places in other-wordly rural Poland, usually shot at night in bad weather. In any other series the weather would be the main character, but here, everyone just shrugs it off.

This series makes it easy to look beyond all the cliches to find gold. For one thing, it's a festival of character acting: I've never seen any of these actors, and there isn't a single one who qualifies as a leading man or woman: instead, they're all fascinating looking, faces filled with character, bouncing off each other in the most unpredictable ways. This series is literally all about character. For another thing, it's beautifully shot, despite (or perhaps because of) the challenging winter weather and many outdoor locations. The inside shots are just as moody and dark as the outside ones. And finally, the soundtrack is a revelation, filled with pop tunes totally unfamiliar to me, perfectly integrated with the plot and moody visuals.

If this series can merely sustain the mood it created by episode-3, it will be a streaming content win for me.

PS: As often happens when I watch foreign productions, the unfamiliar language draws me in along with everything else. Polish is harsh sounding, jagged, the polar opposite of "romance languages" like Italian and Spanish. I might pick up a few words before this is over...

 

Are there any good fantasy series that actually finished? Almost everything I find is tween/young adult trash or something that got cancelled after a season or two. Shadow and Bone on Netflix had some potential, but as soon as I found out it was cancelled after Season 2, I quit. It was YA, but I didn't hate the actors or lore immediately. Amazon's LOTR prequel was at best OK and if it doesn't get cancelled will take so long to continue I probably won't care. The Witcher was fun for a couple seasons, but now that Superman is leaving it, I have next to zero interest in continuing. Game of Thrones was only good for about 4-5 seasons total and it had zero to do with whatever magic was in the world outside of the dragons. Wheel of Time will likely never finish and I don't care because I couldn't get into the acting. I might be looking for something that may never exist since high fantasy/magic doesn't seem to appeal outside of YA stories.

And don't get me wrong, I don't need Emmy/Oscar worthy stuff. I just need solid world building and good enough acting and story telling that I don't get angry. I would prefer a semi-serious attempt, but I don't need overly epic shit either. Hell, YA would be fine if the acting and plot was good enough.

 

FWIW, the end of season 2 did wrap up the main storyline. It did hint at a possible storyline for a season 3, but as a series ending it wasn't horribad. (and I'm not sure the hinted storyline for a season 3 would have been all that satisfying had it continued).

RE fantasy series that held my interest and had a real ending (5 or 6 seasons)... Netlix - The Magicians. But you're right... most of this type (and any Netlix series for that matter) only last 1-2 seasons and then are unceremoniously dumped. I assume the actors of any halfway successful series want more $$ than Netflix is willing to shell out... and I'm guessing the writers have run out of ideas too

 

Reacher

 

Fantasy series/adaptations seem to be hard to get right and/or not cancelled, as you mentioned. Lots of good fantasy-based Anime if you're OK with animation rather than live-action.

 

Reacher is fantasy

 

That's the 2nd time you said this.

Have you read the Lee Child books?

 

Maybe that Reacher is the modern day iteration of


Edit: So far, new True Detective is disappointing. Monsieur Spade is a lot smarter, IMO.

 

action, crime, drama, thriller... yes. But I'm not sure how Reacher can be considered to be in the fantasy genre... it would be like callling The Punisher or Breaking Bad fantasy

-----edit------

to clarify my definition of the Fantasy genre: imaginative fiction dependent for effect on strangeness of setting (such as other worlds or times) and of characters (such as supernatural or unnatural beings). Science Fiction can be seen as a form of fantasy, but the terms are not interchangeable, as science fiction usually is set in the future and is based on some aspect of science or technology, while fantasy is set in an imaginary world and features the magic of mythical beings.

Fantasy Examples - LOTR; Harry Potter; Conan; WItcher; Alice in Wonderland; Wizard of Oz
(the above edit largely lifted from Wikepedia & Britannica)

 

Every piece of fiction (story, novel, screenplay) is the author's "fantasy," but only in the sense it came out of his/her head. I've read all the Reacher books 2-3x. More and more I see the Reacher character as a Lee Child's moral satire on the tormented, hyper-militaristic do-gooders we've seen in countless films (RAMBO being one, THE PUNISHER another).

Why satire? The joke (which is on us) is that Reacher requires such an abundance of experience, intuition, wit, speed, and physical strength (he can be injured or killed, and very nearly is in a number of the books) -- that as a living, breathing human being he's a complete impossibility. Yet Lee Child has pointedly not made Reacher a superhero, or even stereotypically heroic (he's an outcast ... much of what he does verges on obsession & self-destruction).

In the long run, it's all about how badly we, the audience, need the extreme moral clarity and readiness to act of the Reacher character. He knows what the right thing is, and he does it, every time and regardless of the cost to himself. This quality of highly functional altruism is actually the antithesis of the times we live in. But based on the character's popularity, apparently we long for that.

 

I

I can't read

 

So he's the "Good Guy"

 

The goodest

 

So the original Extraction was a great little action gem, not the most innovative story, but extremely well put together with some amazing technical feats.

Caught part 2 last night was riveted. Again, not much you haven't seen before on the plot end, but the visual scene mechanics were extraordinary with some breathtaking action and a heartpounding 20 minute one-shot escape from a prison that is one for the ages. Highly recommended.




Tonight I watched Dunkirk for the second time to see if I would warm to it, as I didn't really care for it the first time around. This one was also a technical marvel, but left me cold. I was a bit confused about the non linear storytelling the first time, and seeing it again made things much clearer and easier to understand, but it didn't matter much, as the film was still "meh" for me... there was just something about it that held me arms length and never fully engaged me. I think this is something that is symptomatic of Nolan... he's a very cerebral filmmaker and IMO seems more interested in gimmicks than emotional substance. Even when he tries to express emotion in storytelling it feels like an asperger's approach... the opposite of Spielberg, who is also very technically gifted but has a very good emotional sense. And I really hated the music.... it was overbearing and emotionally manipulative to a fault.

 

Doesnt surprise me. The original creator Nic Pizzolato wasn't involved and HBO just took a generic cop thriller and slapped the TD name on it to get more eyeballs.