TV/Movies Megathread

[Zoupa]

Halfway through the Sandman. I think it's one of those shows that are good because the base material is good, but the adaptation doesn't feel particularly inspired (besides a great cast). It has this Netflix show thing (with exceptions like Stranger Things) where they throw a lot of money and SFX at it, but it still feels TV-ish with pretty perfunctory directing. The writing I think tries to stitch too many things from the comics and ends up being unfocused, and overall I never get the feeling the show is adding anything to the original work, or being able to employ the tools of the film medium to make a compelling rendition of it. It all feels kinda mechanical. I certainly enjoyed American Gods more (the first season at least).

Again, there's enough of the comic's vision and ideas to make it compelling, but it feels like a bit of a missed opportunity.

Agree 100%. That's what's missing from some of these comic adaptation, the vibe, the feel, the art that grabs you. It's a competent show, but it's not groundbreaking.

[CountDeMoney]

Really enjoyed Sandman - purists may dislike it for its numerous changes, but I went in expecting re-imagination rather than faithful adaptation. I thought the casting was almost entirely on point.

Difficult to tell how good it is for someone going in without knowledge of the comics, though.

I liked that they included two one shots in the series, The Sound of Her Wings and Men of Good Fortune (unfortunately not Tales in the Sand). And while a fair bit of the episode 24/7 changes things from the comic it was still hard to watch (they did keep most of the more gruesome bits of that story - overall, the series pulls relatively few punches when it comes to adapting the comic's graphic nature or language).

Really enjoyed Sandman - purists may dislike it for its numerous changes, but I went in expecting re-imagination rather than faithful adaptation. I thought the casting was almost entirely on point.

Difficult to tell how good it is for someone going in without knowledge of the comics, though.

I liked that they included two one shots in the series, The Sound of Her Wings and Men of Good Fortune (unfortunately not Tales in the Sand). And while a fair bit of the episode 24/7 changes things from the comic it was still hard to watch (they did keep most of the more gruesome bits of that story - overall, the series pulls relatively few punches when it comes to adapting the comic's graphic nature or language).

I'm up to episode 6 right now and I'm really enjoying it.  I'm familiar with the mythos/some plot points but I've never read the original comic.

I wrapped it up in two days.  I never read the comics, so without being weighed down by the curse of morally superior Comic Book Guy gatekeeping, I thoroughly enjoyed it on its own merits.

[Syt]

It's a competent show, but it's not groundbreaking.

It's incredibly rare that something will ever grab, excite, and affect us as the games, books, comics, movies, and TV shows that we got into when we were at our most impressionable. It can still happen, but it's a lot less frequent than when we were much younger.

[celedhring]

It's a competent show, but it's not groundbreaking.

It's incredibly rare that something will ever grab, excite, and affect us as the games, books, comics, movies, and TV shows that we got into when we were at our most impressionable. It can still happen, but it's a lot less frequent than when we were much younger.

Says the person that waxes lyrical (deservedly) about nearly every Better Call Saul episode 

[Syt]

It's a competent show, but it's not groundbreaking.

It's incredibly rare that something will ever grab, excite, and affect us as the games, books, comics, movies, and TV shows that we got into when we were at our most impressionable. It can still happen, but it's a lot less frequent than when we were much younger.

Says the person that waxes lyrical (deservedly) about nearly every Better Call Saul episode 

"It can still happen" does a lot of heavy lifting there. But yeah, it happens a lot less, but it can happen, like with BoJack Horseman, or The Good Place.

For contrast, I thought Book of Boba Fett and Kenobi, or ST Discovery were "fine", but if I had watched those as a kid I would have been blown away, and they'd become something to be nostalgic about down the line. I mean, I thought "Droids" was pretty awesome at the time. (Not to mention the kids who grew up with the much maligned prequels and love them.)

[frunk]

I agree with celed's criticism with an adaptation like Cowboy Bebop.  There were only a couple of twists from the original, and most of the changes felt like they were put there to maximize the number of "two people talking" scenes. 

The Sandman didn't feel nearly as cheap or padded out.  It also matches well with Gaiman's aesthetic that I know from his other work.  I'm sure there were changes made to ease production, but the result is still thoroughly Gaimanesque.

[Malthus]

It's a competent show, but it's not groundbreaking.

It's incredibly rare that something will ever grab, excite, and affect us as the games, books, comics, movies, and TV shows that we got into when we were at our most impressionable. It can still happen, but it's a lot less frequent than when we were much younger.

Says the person that waxes lyrical (deservedly) about nearly every Better Call Saul episode 

"It can still happen" does a lot of heavy lifting there. But yeah, it happens a lot less, but it can happen, like with BoJack Horseman, or The Good Place.

For contrast, I thought Book of Boba Fett and Kenobi, or ST Discovery were "fine", but if I had watched those as a kid I would have been blown away, and they'd become something to be nostalgic about down the line. I mean, I thought "Droids" was pretty awesome at the time. (Not to mention the kids who grew up with the much maligned prequels and love them.)

Oddly, few wax nostalgic over the Star Wars Holiday Special ... 

[Josquius]

I just saw that Harley Quinn Birds of Prey movie.
It's neither a Harley Quinn nor a birds of prey movie. Rather it's about a bunch of very loosely connected characters doing basic intro stuff then getting together in the last 20 minutes for a fight scene.
The fight at least has 60s batman vibes which is cool.
Otherwise quite a confused mess.

[Habbaku]

I just saw that Harley Quinn Birds of Prey movie.
It's neither a Harley Quinn nor a birds of prey movie. Rather it's about of very loosely connected characters doing basic intro stuff then getting together in the last 20 minutes for a fight scene.
The fight at least has 60s batman vibes which is cool.
Otherwise quite a confused mess.

If BA were still here, he'd mock your insufficient wokeness and imply that you're sexist somehow.

I agree with you completely. Dreadful film with some very good moments.

[celedhring]

Yeah, the ending had a 60s Batman vibe that I enjoyed. Everything else was mostly meh.

[viper37]

Just watched this last night, I am sure I would not have other then you mentioning it. It was quite good. How had this never even pinged my radar?

Not a superhero movie, not about dinosaur, does not qualify as blockbuster, ergo, it does not get a 50M$ marketing campaign.

I too would not have heard of it unless reading here.  Never seen an ad about it.

[Jacob]

I wrapped it up in two days.  I never read the comics, so without being weighed down by the curse of morally superior Comic Book Guy gatekeeping, I thoroughly enjoyed it on its own merits.

I really enjoyed the comic back in the day, but I only have one question: did they manage to make Death an unbearably perfect cute imaginary goth girlfriend?

[frunk]

I wrapped it up in two days.  I never read the comics, so without being weighed down by the curse of morally superior Comic Book Guy gatekeeping, I thoroughly enjoyed it on its own merits.

I really enjoyed the comic back in the day, but I only have one question: did they manage to make Death an unbearably perfect cute imaginary goth girlfriend?

It's Kirby Howell-Baptiste, so not quite as pale as the Goth ideal.

[Gups]

I'm also enjoying Sandman. I read about half of the graphic novels around 15 years ago so don't remember much about them except that they were excellent.

[Admiral Yi]

Just noticed The Nice Guys is on Netflix.  Buddy movie with Ryan Gosling and Russell Crow playing two private detectives in the 70s.  The young actress playing Crow's daugher is a revelation and I cannot fathom why she didn't get bombarded with parts after that.  I enjoyed it when I saw it a long time ago.