The Television Streaming Thread: Part II - Hot Takes, Jags Fans, and Bert

The sexuality is a huge part of season 2, but I think the overriding theme is that quality of relationships matters more than material wealth.

Really? Wow I totally disagree lol. Which character do you think is an exemplar of that?

I donā€™t think the series has an easily packaged moral message. The characters who use their sexuality the most to achieve their ends (Lucia, Mia, Daphne) end up winning, basically. I think the series is arguing that Daphne is correct ultimately that mystery is a core element of sexual relationships. Harper and Ethanā€™s relationship is rekindled precisely because neither of them knows quite what happened but both of them senses that the other is not to be taken for granted anymore.

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That, sir, is the Aussie national anthem

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Jack Ryan. 1 episode in. Fun but nothing to write home about.

Bourne without the amnesia

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I agree that itā€™s a film geared towards book readers, but the score is objectively phenomenal (it won the Oscar iirc). And visually boring? Iā€™m just confused. Iā€™ve heard lots of (valid) critiques with the plot from a non-reader, but visually and musically boring is a first.

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Yes, thatā€™s a valid interpretation and I donā€™t think itā€™s really inconsistent with what I said. Both season 1 and 2 call to mind the old Louis CK commentary that everythingā€™s amazing but nobodyā€™s happy.

Albieā€™s dad even literally just gives away material wealth to gain some ground in his relationship with his wife. This is portrayed unquestioningly as a net win for him.

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I didnā€™t like it much due to the poor narrative but visually and the score were outstanding.

Since this is purely a sensory opinion I donā€™t think I can explain it that much (nor convince anyone), but I think this has to do with :
(1) the constant monochrome aspect for the visuals
(2) the ā€˜yellow filter + pseudo-oriental instrumentsā€™ for the score
which are respectively one of the worst things about modern movies and just a bad clichƩ that will always make me roll my eyes (admittedly partly on me, noone forced me to watch all these Alias episodes years ago)

(although thinking about it a little bit, ā€œArrivalā€ was already pretty monochrome, and I still loved itā€¦there was something about the way that movie was shot that immediately made it feel like you were watching something special, and I agree with funcrusher that Villeneuve did not bring that energy to Duneā€¦)

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Yeah, I listened to the score last night and itā€™s really good. I went into a deep self reflection and realized that not understanding what was going on colored everything else.

I am guilty of sometimes overhyping things and ruining first watches. Zimmerā€™s scores are essentially extensions of idm music from the late 90ā€™s. In the same way you might hear a seminal intelligent drum and bass work and be underwhelmed since itā€™s a chicken or the egg situation, that can happen for me since music is the key determinant if Iā€™m going to enjoy a film.

Anyways, Iā€™m looking forward to watching it again. I value your sci fi recommendations pretty heavily. I actually thought of an album last night that is an analogue in my mind of what this film is after reading what people who really enjoyed it thought. ā€œModus Operandiā€ by Photek.

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I read Darth Sidious and then re-watched The Phantom Menace and really liked it. I guess it helps immensely to have an awesome book flesh out all the loose ends for your movie.

Also, I really loved Revenge of the Sith. Iā€™d say itā€™s in my top 3 after 5 and 4.

In 2 hrs 20 minutes you get:

Space battle over Coruscant - great scene
Palpatine/Anakin opera scene - great
Sidious v. Mace and Anakin becoming Vader - epic
Order 66 executed - epic
Vader executes children
ā€œSo this is how liberty diesā€¦ā€ - Empire is born
Simultaneous Sidious v. Yoga and Obi-Wan v. Vader - Epic
Luke and Leia born
Darth Vader officially born, his first breath, his first lines as Vader - epic (Iā€™m gonna ignore the meme-worthy nooooooo)
Final scenes: Death Star being built, Leia to Alderaan, Luke to Tatooine

So many great moments in Star Wars history, I donā€™t see how anyone can hate it. And IIRC, the trademark Lucas cringe dialogue was kept to a minimum in this one compared to 1 and 2.

I re-watched every Star Wars series in chronological order recently (cartoons, live action, movies, etc.) and read a couple books, and I think that greatly bolsters the prequel experience.

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So much this.

I think we have all been burned out on the insides a bit by modern miniseries. The effects of that ephemeral crack hit that you get from a series that might not even deliver a conclusion isnā€™t accounted for when judging SW with post HBO brain.

Also, I hope I live long enough to see the younglings give The Matrix the Star Wars treatment.

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RLM nailed it (as usual) with yoda and the lightsaber imo

and

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lol ā€œYes, I know they both tried to do more advanced things first, like throw rocks at each other.ā€

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Lol classic and IIRC his rant over TPM is what shot him to fame.

Itā€™s a desert.

I mean, itā€™s a story about space Islam / the Arab world + the white savior trope. Itā€™s a cliche now because of Frank Herbert.

I rewatch the reviews every couple of years (and will probably have to do a rewatch now) theyā€™re just funny and actually informative about filmmaking 101 type stuff. The serial killer gimmick thing doesnā€™t hold up that well but the actual content of the reviews is still great (some dodgy language aside hard Rs etc) I literally donā€™t think Iā€™ve ever seen the second movie but I feel like I know every story beat lol.

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God damn this trailer still gives me an erection that lasts longer than 4 hours. Zimmerā€™s Eclipse cover is just perfect.

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His earliest stuff was incredible. Same about watching those first two reviews multiple times a year. I also looooooved his review of Star Trek Generations and First Contact. He points out the most absurd stuff about movies I love, and his historical retrospective of Trek via his reviews is the best there is.

But right the serial killer stuff got old quick, and I canā€™t watch any of the stuff that came afterward eg Half in the Bag. I wish heā€™d gone the route of FilmCritHulk and slowly embraced an occasionally more serious persona.

I think itā€™s deeper than this, especially in later books. Things gets pretty dark and morally ambiguous for House Atreides and thereā€™s no happy ending. The Fremen are just pawns in a galactic game and even in the first book itā€™s pretty clear theyā€™re being used, not saved. Thatā€™s even visible to some degree in Villeneuveā€™s Part 1.

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