Game of Thrones (David Benioff & D. B. Weiss, 2011-2019)
You may have heard about this one.
Sure, the ending dropped the ball. Despite that, is it the greatest TV series ever made? Maybe, I'm not sure. It's one of the best for sure. At the very least, it's the most ambitious and epic ever made, no doubt about that, and for a long time into the future.
9/10
It has a lot of ups throughout the entire series, and some downs mostly towards the end. A shame but it's still a very memorable adventure.
I'm enjoying 'Line of Duty' but in season 4 they seem to have gotten a little lazy with the writing.
Refn needs to get his head out of his own ass. His character archetypes have basically all been the same throughout his entire output and I think it's very tired now. He's a great director but based off his interviews he sounds really full of himself. If he started branching out from his signature style (and got better at writing dialogue) I think he'd make something really great again.
i dunno if there's a dedicated thread for it but i just watched the ending of merlin
it was emotional but it leaves me with so many questions, like how did gwen reign in arthur's absence, what happened to aithusa, what did merlin do all that time, is albion established, are the alliances that have been foretold in order
i find the show a nice take on the arthurian legend but the ending was kinda eh because of the sheer absence of so many important plot devices
Drive, OGF, and Valhalla Rising all have essentially the same main character right?
I just watched The Great Martian War, 7/10
Pretty much a re-hash of War of the Worlds, but in a fairly interesting way. The premise is that World War 1 isn't between the Central Powers and the Allies, but between Martians who land in Germany, and the combined European armies.
It's presented as one of those History-channel conspiracy-level shows (And it aired on the History channel originally), complete with obnoxious editing, sound cues and re-use of footage.
Speaking of which, they insert 3d animations of the martian walkers into real WW1 footage - it doesn't look convincing at all, not that I was expecting much. They don't talk about anything east of Germany, yet basically try and have it tie in with some of the major events of WW1.
Overall it's quite fun, but lacking in detail and cohesion. Some of the "plot points" I don't think made much sense either.
Blogpost length post incoming
Doom Patrol S1- 8.5/10 (DC Universe, watched on a week-to-week basis)
DCs decision to go for Doom Patrol as the next show after Titans is probably one of the best decisions they could've made. Its a dark, humorous show that revels in its strangeness(in particular Grant Morrisons famed run) compared to the sombre Titans that etches between trying to be edgy but still embrace its comic roots.
Showrunner Jeremy Carver, formerly of Supernatural fame, does a fantastic job of mixing the bizarre reality with real emotions, whether its Brendan Frasier as Cliff Steele/Robotman, the potty mouthed former race car driver turned brain in a tin can with a protector/father complex (introduced to us ass first as he fucks the nanny and shouting "WHO'S THE FOX"), April Bowlbey as Rita Farr/Elasti-Woman, a tinsel town starlet whose anxiety causes her to melt into a goop monster or Matt Bomer as Larry Trainor/Negative-Man, a closeted American Hero who fights not only with his sexuality but an extra-dimensional being that lives within him. Frasier is the real core pillar of the show, a fantastic comeback from the JUST pit he'd been in, with his main dynamic exploring his relationship with Diane Guerrero's Crazy Jane, a young woman with a split personality disorder, each personality with their own power and a desire to protect their "host". Think Shyamalan's Split, though Guerrero's range sadly doesn't match up to McAvoy's and as such it can feel silly, even when she's surrounded by a robot man and a mummy in goggles. Finally to round out the main cast is Joivan Wade as Victor Stone/Cyborg, a at first questionable addition that a lot of people(including myself) thought would be used to further push a character DC has had trouble bringing into the limelight as no one really wanted him about. Thankfully Cyborg is cleverly used, with the shows villain and narrator, Mr Nobody(portrayed by Alan Tudyk) entirely aware of how he doesn't fit in with the rest of the gang and is instead used to show how a "superhero" fits in with the dynamic of the misfit family and how he's more similar to them than he first appears. Wade is portraying a naive and optimistic hero that when confronted with the reality of his situation realises thinks aren't as hunky dory as he first thought, making this probably the most interesting version of the character since Marv Wolfmans and George Perez's original introduction in New Teen Titans.
Supporting roles are given to Timothy Dalton as Niles Caulder AKA The Chief, the families father figure who is kidnapped and forces the team to come together. My only issue with him is that I felt he was pretty underutilised but that's because you can never have too much Timothy Dalton. The series' villain, Mr Nobody is a treat, narrating the show with his heightened fictional awareness, providing 4th wall breaking jokes and a meta knowledge that the show is a show. At first this feels like a cheap way to cash in on the absurdity and poke fun at the genre similar to Deadpool but Tudyk owns any scene he's in and ends up genuinely hilarious and devious.
Coming in at 15 episodes, the show has plot threads carrying it through with standalone plots for each episode/mini-arc but the major focus is character, as much Mr Nobody wants it to be a heroics driven show. As such on a week to week watch this was real fun, with a enough intrigue to keep the series going but I do wonder if on a binge watch the pacing may feel slightly too slow, especially concerning the penultimate and final episodes. Each episode is so vibrant and fun, here's a context-less list of characters/events that show up
Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man. Just everything
A genderqueer sentient street that speaks via signage, newspapers and more
Beardhunter, a beard fetishizing mercenary
A staring contest to save the world
A doomsday harbouring cockroach
F L E X
Honestly, this is probably the best piece of DC TV since the original DCAU, and easily up there with Daredevil as the best comic book show. By the end the season wraps up in a perfect little package, allowing it to exist self-contained or if the showrunners/DC wish to take it further, they could and god I hope they do.
True Detective S2
I remember hearing nothing but negative reviews of this back when it came out, so maybe my expectations were really low but I actually enjoyed this a lot. It's definitely different than the 1st season but I think it still managed to deliver a story that I was hooked into from the get go. The only real low point for me is Vince Vaughn but I hate him in everything so what can ya do. And hey, if S3 is actually far better than 2 then bring it on.
Doom Patrol - 8.5 /10. Definitely worth the watch. Wish there was a tad more action but I loved how in depth they were with some of the characters, and wish there was more of Robotman considering he was the standout performance. That's not to say the rest of the cast isn't great, they are all phenomenal. I felt the ending was a tad lackluster but otherwise I greatly enjoyed each episode. There is still a ton of mystery to unravel.
Titans - 7/10. Not bad by any means. The show is a bit slow at times but there are great performances all around. I think it moves a bit too quickly and some of the characters really dont do anything, and the show ends on a really unsatisfying cliffhanger. There is also one episode that I skipped entirely because it felt completely irrelevant to the main story.
Cannot wait to see what Swamp Thing achieves. DC really is killing it so far.
Swamp Thing Episode 1 - 8/10
Practical design and a unique location brings to life an interesting world filled with mystery. Unlike Marvel shows it's nice to see varied locations such as "Not New York" and "Not Other New York". The swamp breathes of life and the characters that fill it are equally as intriguing.
The grotesque body horror in the first episode looked genuinely real and gross, and I loved how it all looked.
The toughest part of the show is knowing we cannot binge it. Being left with a week without seeing more sucks, especially since I want to see more of the Swamp Things costume.
If DC keeps the momentum in further episodes they easily have another hit on their hands. I hope they go all out with the creepiness and the gore.
Comparing to Marvel as well it's obvious how much more of a budget their shows seem to have over something like Daredevil. It seems like they are able to achieve a lot more, pushing the limits of what CGI and practical effects can do in television.
Please give it a watch. Thank you.
Chernobyl (Craig Mazin, 2019)
It is engaging, horrifying and informative in equal parts. I think that nothing could have been done better. You come for the thrills and it leaves you crying, cursing humankind and how it's bound to repeat its mistakes.
The truth hurts. But it's worth dying for. Or making TV shows about.
10/10
The best mini-series I've ever seen.
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