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What TV SHOWS are you watching?
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- Michael Barnes
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For example, Black Barney is sort of like the Canadian version of Willie.
Man, I friggin’ loved V and V: The Final Battle. I remember seeing the commercia for the first one at my grandma’s house and thinking “whoa that looks awesome”.
I still think The reveal of Robin’s babies is one of the best moments in television history.
I only watched a little of the reboot, it was nowhere near as good because it didn’t have that John Carpenter-ish tone to it.
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This summer my family and I were flying into Providence on our way to Cape Cod and I saw a guy who looked a lot like Marc Singer in first class. It turns out that it was him and he'd flown in for the V reunion at ComiConn (the others were Frank Ashmore, Richard Herd and Greta Blackburn). I tried to explain who he was to my wife but she'd seen neither V nor Beastmaster so she was unimpressed.
I'm almost done with Punisher and it's gotten really good. They've done a really good job in updating the character and moving on from his roots in 70's-era vigilantism without losing the essence of the character. I was also pleasantly surprised at how well they fleshed out the supporting characters, even though it should be noted that it came at the expense of pace which was nearly glacial in some of the early episodes. I also wish he spent more time in his skull body armor but those are quibbles. Highly recommended.
My kids really liked The Office - we watched the entire series in about a month - but have gotten tired of rewatching episodes, so recently we started Parks & Recreation. I never watched it when it first aired because I wrote it off as an Office knockoff but it's much better than that. The supporting cast isn't as funny - I can't stand Aubrey Plaza - but Amy Poehler is really good (though she's more of a straight man in this show), Aziz Ansari is tolerable in a love-to-hate-him sort of way (and he's my five year-old daughter's favorite character) and Nick Offerman and Chris Pratt are both amazing.
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Anyway, the show deals with the personalities at this British Army post. The show is well put together and if you are a fan of deep and well drawn characters then you will like this show. Probably the best in that regard I've seen in a long time. It's remarkably even handed in it's portrayal of both the British and the Arabs. Both being shown to be neither all angels or all devils. The show's production values are pretty high and it looks good.
I'm not sure I liked it though. The action parts are never quite satisfying. I suppose that is done on purpose and reflects the impotence these guys felt in their impossible situation. That's not to say there isn't suspense and tension because there is but it sometimes goes on and on and becomes grueling. Maybe that's by design as well.
The season was only six episodes long and it was a fascinating show on a time and subject not often covered.
P.S.Yes that's one of the main characters in the red dress. Yes she is super good looking but she is totally reprehensible...until she isn't...see that's what the show does...makes you hate/love a character until you don't.
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- Black Barney
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Yeah I remember the woman in the flesh covered booth getting brainwashed too. That show really hit me on many levels as a kid. When Mark Singer is debating on giving up Martin as he’s being tortured by a staple gun that électricutes him repeatedly.
I’ll never forget the sound of the lasers in that show. It stays with you.
Michael Ironsides was badass in that show. Was Robert England Willie? Gah, can’t believe that’s who I’m supposed to be.
ER did a prank and used the alien baby prop as a joke in that episode where dr Greene loses the mother during delivery
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- Black Barney
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When converting 800+ page books into 10-episode seasons of television, it is understandable that not everything will survive the translation process. But the cumulative effect of slimming down the story has left some characters and storylines emaciated or even just gone. For example, I imagine that viewers must find Ser Davos the Onion Knight boring and insignificant, but he was one of my favorite characters in the books. Even Robb Stark has gotten scant screentime, though he was reasonably impressive while scolding Edmure Tully about his strategic errors. What's worse is that the trimming has left some room for additional slow-paced scenes that add nothing to the story but perhaps flesh out the relationships of certain characters. And some great minor characters have gone completely missing, like Fat Belwas or the Brave Companions. This tv show is good for people who don't like to read, but I feel sorry for show fans who are missing out on so much from the books. Pretty much anything that a person might like about the show (aside from the nudity) is available in greater quantity and quality in the books, though the same could be said about their least favorite things from the show.
Another ongoing disappointment is the weak casting of many characters. As a former bard, Mance Rayder should have been more charming, but they deleted that aspect of the character, which also deleted Jon Snow's excellent excuse for joining the wildlings. Ser Davos is a super-generic old guy with zero screen presence. Shae is homely. I realize that there is a finite supply of actors in the UK, but the show could have maybe recruited even more actors from abroad.
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By contrast, I think the casting has largely been excellent, so there I disagree. I think it's all down to how little room the minor characters have to breath. When they decide to focus on a minor character with the appropriate time, they almost always do them justice---see Oberyn Martell who gets decent screen time.
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- Black Barney
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Shellhead, if it makes you feel better, the screenwriting of Game of Thrones was not done for the fan of the book. It was completely done for television and for new comers to the series. It's not like Peter Jackson trying to do Lord of the Rings justice by being as true to the source material as possible. So if you can come away from it from that angle, it helps you enjoy the show for what it is. Excellent television. That's all.
Speaking of Game of Thrones, i saw Robb Stark on some show last night and it was impossible to take that actor seriously at all in the role. He was totally Robb Stark to me.
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- Black Barney
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Just my luck it’s the stupid Wesley episode with the displaced North American native people. They keep calling them Indians in the show which really dated the show for me. I then started thinking and wondering how no sci fi property has been able to forecast political correctness at all. Would have been cool to watch a show referring to some group of people using a term we are totally unfamiliar with. « I wonder why they are calling them that...? »
Sociology science fiction would be a cool thing to try and write for. Making a black or female captain isn’t enough
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- Michael Barnes
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The story is really just kind of typical anime stuff- teens getting caught up in supernatural nonsense, loser guy winds up hosting a demon and so forth- and there is TONS of rather crude sex and violence that makes me feel almost ashamed to be watching it in a way that I haven't felt since maybe seeing Urotsukidoji in the theater 25 years ago or whatever it was.
But here is what I find compelling about it. The art style is REALLY interesting. It is NOT your typical anime fare. It's really more Ralph Bakshi. So it is all fleshy and rubbery and 1970s psychedelic. The demon transformations are insane- bodies with no boundaries or limitations, a complete dissolution of physiology and structure- far more extreme than Parasyte or some of the other body horror-focused anime. So I'm sort of ho-hum about the story itself (although it has some interesting and progressive LGBT subtexts underneath the near-porn), but I love the way it looks.
I'm really kind of surprised that Netflix is producing this, because it does hover pretty close to hentai. I doubt I'll watch any more of it, but it is worth watching to see the art style.
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- hotseatgames
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- Michael Barnes
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