Detective Beauregard
Leviathan of Doggerland
Season 5 was actually my favorite.
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Season 5 was actually my favorite.
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
I'll need to watch it again, but I just wasn't all that interested in the whole Lumen thing. I don't know, it was not a worthwhile follow-up to Season 4, IMO.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Watched The Conjuring this weekend. I wanted to wait until rental, because the hype around it is huge and no different from recent movies. They all claim to be the scariest shit since Satan and most fall flat on their ass or at best give a couple decent scares. As much as I love the Paranormal Activity franchise even I admit the third installment felt rushed and the fourth is a complete waste of time. No wonder they are pushing back the release of the 5.
But how does The Conjuring fare? Good movie. A solid, good, classic horror movie. Is it the scariest thing since Satan? For some it has, I've seen so many exorcism/haunted house movies to know there is NOTHING new in this movie. However, even though I've seen them before it was refreshing to see them done WELL. Build proper tension, reveal the scare at an appropriate time, not resort to a cheesy "ta da" soundtrack, etc. Very well done. It has several things going for it. Every single exorcism movie has tried to recapture the magic of The Exorcist and most have failed miserably. While The Exorcist was written and made a movie in the 70's, The Conjuring is a 70's period piece, the Title is in retro-Exorcist-look-alike lettering. An homage most likely. It also uses that practical, minimalistic style from those classic 70's horror movies which again is nice to see after being bombarded with CGI.
The story itself follows both The Warrens and the Perrons. The Warrens are a couple of paranormal investigators who are called by the Perron family to aid them in their situation. I won't spoil any of it, because it is worth watching. A very human, basic, well done horror movie. As I usually do when a horror (or any) movie is based on a true story I track down the story it is actually based on. To my surprise it is fairly legit. Usually a movie is 5% true story and 95% Hollywood. One article I found explores in short the truth behind 5 horror movies and says as much: http://theweek.com/article/index/24...our-other-horror-movies-based-on-a-true-story.
This article also proves one of my pet peeves correct. Shortly after this movie I gripped to my girlfriend and some coworkers that usually after looking up the true story to a horror movie, the true story is WAY scarier and more interesting than the fictionalized product on screen. They don't have to "dramatize" anything or "spice it up" as the actual story is terrifying enough. One said case as the article points out is The Devil Inside. Supposedly based on the true events of a girl hiring a film crew to fly to Italy and finally get to the truth regarding her mother and her involvement in three grisly murders. The article's "fact-check" found a single connection to a Maria Rossi involving a really disgusting murder:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...ose-cries-for-help-went-unheeded-1496695.html
For those who don't want to read it here is a small quote describing what happened:
In short these two teenagers butchered a defenseless older woman. the article states that Rossi had been harassing her for some time and she had asked to be rehoused several times. The backlash to the murder is even more bizzare with the town taking matters into their own hands stoning the houses of both teenagers and even attempting to set on fire the grocery store owned by a DISTANT relative of the Rossis... THAT would make a good movie, fuck The Devil Inside!.
But how does The Conjuring fare? Good movie. A solid, good, classic horror movie. Is it the scariest thing since Satan? For some it has, I've seen so many exorcism/haunted house movies to know there is NOTHING new in this movie. However, even though I've seen them before it was refreshing to see them done WELL. Build proper tension, reveal the scare at an appropriate time, not resort to a cheesy "ta da" soundtrack, etc. Very well done. It has several things going for it. Every single exorcism movie has tried to recapture the magic of The Exorcist and most have failed miserably. While The Exorcist was written and made a movie in the 70's, The Conjuring is a 70's period piece, the Title is in retro-Exorcist-look-alike lettering. An homage most likely. It also uses that practical, minimalistic style from those classic 70's horror movies which again is nice to see after being bombarded with CGI.
The story itself follows both The Warrens and the Perrons. The Warrens are a couple of paranormal investigators who are called by the Perron family to aid them in their situation. I won't spoil any of it, because it is worth watching. A very human, basic, well done horror movie. As I usually do when a horror (or any) movie is based on a true story I track down the story it is actually based on. To my surprise it is fairly legit. Usually a movie is 5% true story and 95% Hollywood. One article I found explores in short the truth behind 5 horror movies and says as much: http://theweek.com/article/index/24...our-other-horror-movies-based-on-a-true-story.
This article also proves one of my pet peeves correct. Shortly after this movie I gripped to my girlfriend and some coworkers that usually after looking up the true story to a horror movie, the true story is WAY scarier and more interesting than the fictionalized product on screen. They don't have to "dramatize" anything or "spice it up" as the actual story is terrifying enough. One said case as the article points out is The Devil Inside. Supposedly based on the true events of a girl hiring a film crew to fly to Italy and finally get to the truth regarding her mother and her involvement in three grisly murders. The article's "fact-check" found a single connection to a Maria Rossi involving a really disgusting murder:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/u...ose-cries-for-help-went-unheeded-1496695.html
For those who don't want to read it here is a small quote describing what happened:
In short these two teenagers butchered a defenseless older woman. the article states that Rossi had been harassing her for some time and she had asked to be rehoused several times. The backlash to the murder is even more bizzare with the town taking matters into their own hands stoning the houses of both teenagers and even attempting to set on fire the grocery store owned by a DISTANT relative of the Rossis... THAT would make a good movie, fuck The Devil Inside!.
tattooed_millionaire
Prowler
The Borgias, really good series. Jeremy Irons is awsome acting pope.
Today, I want to finally watch Full Metal Jacket, I really love Kubrick - Clockwatch Orange, The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut are very good movies.
But my favourite director is Lars von Trier and his 'Dancer in the Darkness' is my favourite movie ever!
Today, I want to finally watch Full Metal Jacket, I really love Kubrick - Clockwatch Orange, The Shining, Eyes Wide Shut are very good movies.
But my favourite director is Lars von Trier and his 'Dancer in the Darkness' is my favourite movie ever!
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
I'll start watching It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia in just a minute. Hopefully it's another series I can add to my favorites, it's very acclaimed. All comedy series I've tried out have been very good and have been my favorites so far. (namely How I Met Your Mother, The Big Bang Theory, Two and a Half Men, Scrubs and Freaks and Geeks)
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
Always Sunny is fantastic, though quite amateurish at first. By Season 2-3 it gets really good. I haven't seen the last couple seasons because I did a marathon of the entire show up through Season 6 and let's just say, it can be overwhelming. You'll find this out soon, but Charlie is amazing.
Onhell
Infinite Dreamer
Always Sunny is markedly different from the ones you mentioned. It's REALLY funny, but it took me a while to get acclimated to its brand of humor. Of all the shows you mentioned, Big Bang is the only one I still watch. Two and a Half men got tiresome, even before they got rid of Charlie Sheen and How I Met Your Mother is dragging it out. MEET THE DAMN WOMAN ALREADY! GOOD FREAKING GOD!
MrKnickerbocker
clap hands
They showed her! Though Ted and The Mother haven't met yet, they did reveal her at the end of last season. Only one season left! I'm glad to see it finally coming to a close, though.
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
I don't watch Two and a Half Men nowadays as well, How I Met Your Mother lost its comedic brilliance years before but I watch it as a drama, The Big Bang Theory has started to lose its comedic value as well.
My two cents:
I still watch Two & A Half Men because I don't like leaving things unfinished, even though the show had 1 funny episode in the last... 3 seasons. I think it would've been even worse if Charlie stayed, Ashton at least changed things a bit.
How I Met Your Mother is, of course, not as funny as it was before, but I still watch it because first 5 seasons are masterpieces (and I want to see how Ted met the Mother
).
The Big Bang Theory is probably the funniest out of these 3 atm, even though it's probably gonna take the Two & A Half Men route with its humor (becoming more and more mean over time).
I still watch Two & A Half Men because I don't like leaving things unfinished, even though the show had 1 funny episode in the last... 3 seasons. I think it would've been even worse if Charlie stayed, Ashton at least changed things a bit.
How I Met Your Mother is, of course, not as funny as it was before, but I still watch it because first 5 seasons are masterpieces (and I want to see how Ted met the Mother
).The Big Bang Theory is probably the funniest out of these 3 atm, even though it's probably gonna take the Two & A Half Men route with its humor (becoming more and more mean over time).
Bleh.
The Big Bang Theory used to be my favourite show. They actually cared for creating interesting and likeable characters, funny jokes and plots, and make it all round enjoyable. Yeah, the nerd's been a staple in comedy for ages, but there has never been a serious attempt at actually having him be a protagonist and give him an actual personality. It all went downhill when they introduced an awkward and terribly unappealing girl's group as a central focus. The nerds are "growing up" in the sense of losing their nerdy attributes, which is not only mean-spirited, but simply dismantles them a unique characters. They aren't doing nerdy stuff anymore, you don't even see them in the university being scientists anymore. Sure, they were distorted caricatures of scientists before, but at least the writers tried to portray them at being successful at what they're doing and not just be pitiful losers. In the recent episodes, the only likeable character of the show to me is Sheldon, because he is the only one to realise that everyone else on the show are friggin' idiots.
Two and a Half Men had an initial concept that was sheer brilliance. How do you make a television show about sex when you can't show sex on television? You include a kid. In a way, the kid was the personification of American television censorship. All the adults had to talk around the topic of sex. Everybody knew what's being said, everybody knew what they were talking about, and yet they couldn't say it straight out. That way, you had a probably unintentional piece of satire that was a show celebrating promiscuity, yet being unbelievably prude. At least that's what it seems like to aBabylonian European viewer. If it wasn't satire, it still had a good sense of self-irony. Then the kid grew up, the characters had no further reason to avoid the topic of sex and yet did, and it all became just a mean-spirited show about a bunch of arseholes that had nothing to offer but a few quick gags with no substance. Then there was new hope when Charlie Sheen got replaced, but the truth is, now nobody really knows what the series is about anymore at all. It's just a bunch of unlikeable characters being mean to each other. Ha. Ha.
How I Met Your Mother is the only one of that list that I still enjoy watching. The thing is, I started watching it pretty late, so I caught it only when the local channel here had three parallel runs of the show, all of which were at different points in the timeline. That way, I never developed a sense of continuity for the series. The only thing I do notice is that the series has the benefit of having a rather tight framing device that it's forced to return to every once in a while in order to make sense. They can't just do anything they want all the time. Also, it's the only one of all mentioned examples that knows when to stop. A good series can't outlast seven or at most eight seasons.
I'm still amazed at how The Simpsons manage to last for 24 seasons on the sole merit of having had five years of brilliance in the mid-nineties.
tl;dr
Bleh.
The Big Bang Theory used to be my favourite show. They actually cared for creating interesting and likeable characters, funny jokes and plots, and make it all round enjoyable. Yeah, the nerd's been a staple in comedy for ages, but there has never been a serious attempt at actually having him be a protagonist and give him an actual personality. It all went downhill when they introduced an awkward and terribly unappealing girl's group as a central focus. The nerds are "growing up" in the sense of losing their nerdy attributes, which is not only mean-spirited, but simply dismantles them a unique characters. They aren't doing nerdy stuff anymore, you don't even see them in the university being scientists anymore. Sure, they were distorted caricatures of scientists before, but at least the writers tried to portray them at being successful at what they're doing and not just be pitiful losers. In the recent episodes, the only likeable character of the show to me is Sheldon, because he is the only one to realise that everyone else on the show are friggin' idiots.
Two and a Half Men had an initial concept that was sheer brilliance. How do you make a television show about sex when you can't show sex on television? You include a kid. In a way, the kid was the personification of American television censorship. All the adults had to talk around the topic of sex. Everybody knew what's being said, everybody knew what they were talking about, and yet they couldn't say it straight out. That way, you had a probably unintentional piece of satire that was a show celebrating promiscuity, yet being unbelievably prude. At least that's what it seems like to a
How I Met Your Mother is the only one of that list that I still enjoy watching. The thing is, I started watching it pretty late, so I caught it only when the local channel here had three parallel runs of the show, all of which were at different points in the timeline. That way, I never developed a sense of continuity for the series. The only thing I do notice is that the series has the benefit of having a rather tight framing device that it's forced to return to every once in a while in order to make sense. They can't just do anything they want all the time. Also, it's the only one of all mentioned examples that knows when to stop. A good series can't outlast seven or at most eight seasons.
I'm still amazed at how The Simpsons manage to last for 24 seasons on the sole merit of having had five years of brilliance in the mid-nineties.
tl;dr
Bleh.
The Flash
Dennis Wilcock did 9/11
Great post, Per. I'm gonna carry the torch.
Out of the three shows, How I Met Your Mother definitely holds the biggest place in my heart. Mainly because it was the first American TV series I started to follow and that I watched its first five seasons over and over and over again. I could tell you all the episodes' names in the correct order if you were asking first five seasons. Obviously, it resulted in a bond I developed with the characters and the actors that portrayed them. Even after losing its comedic genius after its fifth season, I never stopped enjoying the show. The episodes in 6-8 seasons which intended to be "funny" and didn't really care about storylines bored me, to be honest. The show started off as a "mostly comedy, some drama here in there", now it's the exact opposite. I'm not mad. Incredibly excited about the final season.
The Big Bang Theory is the first show I started following as soon as it started. The first couple of seasons made me laugh so much that at times I ditched my beloved HIMYM from the first spot to give it to TBBT. I loved all the characters. They were unique. Even intended "straight guy" of the group, Leonard was special in his own right. My complaints about the show similar to Perun's. While Sheldon gets the most attention, Raj and Howard were my favorite characters. Raj not being able to talk to girls, Howard being a desperate, self-proclaimed womanizer who couldn't even get his own apartment and the relationship they had with sort of a homosexual connotation were really cool to watch. The gang don't do video game nights, Raj is almost exclusively able to talk to girls (he's drunk all the time, I assume, which could lead to a new storyline but they don't go that way), Howard's got a wife. I find Amy to be annoying and her presence hurts the "indestructible" nature Sheldon had before. Sheldon still is the strongest character of the show, but even he has started to fall apart. I'm afraid the show is going to get much worse over the long term.
Two and a Half Men was a show I watched here and there, it wasn't until 2011 I actually went back to see the whole thing. Like Perun said, the theme of the show was genius when it came to comedic value. Characters were strong. Both Charlie and Alan had great storylines and Jake seemed to be bright kid who could nail some stuff in the head. As the show progressed, the humor got a bit harsher, the lines were a bit more distinct and for some reason, Jake turned out to be a dumb teenager which took almost all of the excitement out of the character. Most teenagers are dumb or they act like they're. It wasn't exciting. The events leading up to Charlie's death weren't that much funny either. I still watch the new episodes sometimes but only when I don't have anything better to do. All that being said, the first seasons were gold.
Out of the three shows, How I Met Your Mother definitely holds the biggest place in my heart. Mainly because it was the first American TV series I started to follow and that I watched its first five seasons over and over and over again. I could tell you all the episodes' names in the correct order if you were asking first five seasons. Obviously, it resulted in a bond I developed with the characters and the actors that portrayed them. Even after losing its comedic genius after its fifth season, I never stopped enjoying the show. The episodes in 6-8 seasons which intended to be "funny" and didn't really care about storylines bored me, to be honest. The show started off as a "mostly comedy, some drama here in there", now it's the exact opposite. I'm not mad. Incredibly excited about the final season.
The Big Bang Theory is the first show I started following as soon as it started. The first couple of seasons made me laugh so much that at times I ditched my beloved HIMYM from the first spot to give it to TBBT. I loved all the characters. They were unique. Even intended "straight guy" of the group, Leonard was special in his own right. My complaints about the show similar to Perun's. While Sheldon gets the most attention, Raj and Howard were my favorite characters. Raj not being able to talk to girls, Howard being a desperate, self-proclaimed womanizer who couldn't even get his own apartment and the relationship they had with sort of a homosexual connotation were really cool to watch. The gang don't do video game nights, Raj is almost exclusively able to talk to girls (he's drunk all the time, I assume, which could lead to a new storyline but they don't go that way), Howard's got a wife. I find Amy to be annoying and her presence hurts the "indestructible" nature Sheldon had before. Sheldon still is the strongest character of the show, but even he has started to fall apart. I'm afraid the show is going to get much worse over the long term.
Two and a Half Men was a show I watched here and there, it wasn't until 2011 I actually went back to see the whole thing. Like Perun said, the theme of the show was genius when it came to comedic value. Characters were strong. Both Charlie and Alan had great storylines and Jake seemed to be bright kid who could nail some stuff in the head. As the show progressed, the humor got a bit harsher, the lines were a bit more distinct and for some reason, Jake turned out to be a dumb teenager which took almost all of the excitement out of the character. Most teenagers are dumb or they act like they're. It wasn't exciting. The events leading up to Charlie's death weren't that much funny either. I still watch the new episodes sometimes but only when I don't have anything better to do. All that being said, the first seasons were gold.
TheSeventhSonRoberto
Rockin in Rio
Breaking bad starts again this week, good show but not great but definitely good.
Wow, long posts.
Watched a season of TBBT, I enjoyed it but didn't have any interest in continuing after that so I didn't.
The few episodes of 2.5 Men that I watched were pretty stupid. They must've been later or something, but nevertheless, I avoid that show like the plague.
HIMYM is maybe my favorite TV show and the only current one I actively watch. Not only is the comedy good with great characters, but I really enjoy following the story. Aside from a really awful 7th season and first half of the 8th, I enjoy most of it. Putting off meeting the Mother hasn't bugged me too much, but I understand why that would be frustrating. I look forward to seeing how the 9th season plays out. Cristin Milioti is an awesome actress (and musician!) and I look forward to seeing more of her.
The Simpsons conundrum is easy, they traded in being the ultimate satire for being a dumb slapstick comedy. Stupidity sells. They've become a sad parody of Family Guy (another awful show) when it should be the other way around. I heard they were making a crossover episode too, what the fuck. I love the first 5 seasons (and some of 6) though.
Watched a season of TBBT, I enjoyed it but didn't have any interest in continuing after that so I didn't.
The few episodes of 2.5 Men that I watched were pretty stupid. They must've been later or something, but nevertheless, I avoid that show like the plague.
HIMYM is maybe my favorite TV show and the only current one I actively watch. Not only is the comedy good with great characters, but I really enjoy following the story. Aside from a really awful 7th season and first half of the 8th, I enjoy most of it. Putting off meeting the Mother hasn't bugged me too much, but I understand why that would be frustrating. I look forward to seeing how the 9th season plays out. Cristin Milioti is an awesome actress (and musician!) and I look forward to seeing more of her.
The Simpsons conundrum is easy, they traded in being the ultimate satire for being a dumb slapstick comedy. Stupidity sells. They've become a sad parody of Family Guy (another awful show) when it should be the other way around. I heard they were making a crossover episode too, what the fuck. I love the first 5 seasons (and some of 6) though.
So, since we were already talking about it, Two & A Half men news:
Jake's out (may return as recurring character), new third lead is Amber Tamblyn, gonna play Charlie's long lost lesbian daughter.
Jake's out (may return as recurring character), new third lead is Amber Tamblyn, gonna play Charlie's long lost lesbian daughter.
Well, I'm going to talk only about TBBT, because I haven't really indulged in the other shows.
Much like Perun, I used to really enjoy TBBT. I liked to laugh with the nerds, because they were doing stereotypically nerdy things and they usually figured a way out of it on their own. Penny played a great foil for Sheldon, and in fact, still does. But it's gone from being a show that is really friendly to geeky hobbies to being a show that is downright vicious and meanspirited towards geeky hobbies. I do almost all of the things those guys do, except for being a real scientist. I'm not joking. Here's a list of the things they've done on the show that I've done:
1. Dedicated a night to video gaming weekly.
2. LAN parties.
3. MMOs
4. Collectible card games.
5. Large expansive board games.
6. Dungeons & Dragons
7. Gone to a movie in costume.
8. Gone to a midnight showing of a "geeky" movie.
9. Gone to a midnight showing of a "geeky" movie in costume.
I'll tell you what sealed it for me. The recent episode focusing on D&D really, really, really pissed me off. I hate the concept that role-playing games are supposed to be done by young, sweaty neckbeards in their mothers' basements. The concept that girls aren't supposed to play is also supremely insulting. There's tons of jokes to be made with the concept without reinforcing extremely negative stereotypes.
Oh, and I hate Stuart. He's really funny, but then you think about what they're saying with his character, and you get pissed off.
This show used to be a loveletter to people like me. To remind me that no matter how weird people might think your hobbies of stargazing and card-gaming and dice-rolling might be, it's actually okay, because it brings your friends together. It used to help normalize these things by putting a slightly geeky but very human face on a lot of the things I enjoy. Now it's just about shitting on the fucking nerds when they do nerdy stuff. And I'm done with that.
Much like Perun, I used to really enjoy TBBT. I liked to laugh with the nerds, because they were doing stereotypically nerdy things and they usually figured a way out of it on their own. Penny played a great foil for Sheldon, and in fact, still does. But it's gone from being a show that is really friendly to geeky hobbies to being a show that is downright vicious and meanspirited towards geeky hobbies. I do almost all of the things those guys do, except for being a real scientist. I'm not joking. Here's a list of the things they've done on the show that I've done:
1. Dedicated a night to video gaming weekly.
2. LAN parties.
3. MMOs
4. Collectible card games.
5. Large expansive board games.
6. Dungeons & Dragons
7. Gone to a movie in costume.
8. Gone to a midnight showing of a "geeky" movie.
9. Gone to a midnight showing of a "geeky" movie in costume.
I'll tell you what sealed it for me. The recent episode focusing on D&D really, really, really pissed me off. I hate the concept that role-playing games are supposed to be done by young, sweaty neckbeards in their mothers' basements. The concept that girls aren't supposed to play is also supremely insulting. There's tons of jokes to be made with the concept without reinforcing extremely negative stereotypes.
Oh, and I hate Stuart. He's really funny, but then you think about what they're saying with his character, and you get pissed off.
This show used to be a loveletter to people like me. To remind me that no matter how weird people might think your hobbies of stargazing and card-gaming and dice-rolling might be, it's actually okay, because it brings your friends together. It used to help normalize these things by putting a slightly geeky but very human face on a lot of the things I enjoy. Now it's just about shitting on the fucking nerds when they do nerdy stuff. And I'm done with that.