Current TV Boxset Addiction

[HdE]

Just to come back to Hawkmonger's comments:

Finished Psycho Pass yesterday and had no problems with the ending. GREAT stuff, and I was pleased to see the show didn't shy away from killing a few characters off along the way. One death in particular made me gulp down a few manly tears. I absolutely cannot wait to see the rest of it - even if poor sales over here mean I may have to wait for Funimation to put it out as an R1 DVD.

Attack on Titan, I'm about halfway through now. It's a visually stunning series, if a little too reliant on panned static shots for my liking. I feel like it faltered a bit after a strong start, but I'm pleased to see that my assumption of it being just a zombie show with a twist has been thoroughly disproved. 

Biggest complaint? The dub is of inconsistent quality. We've got Christopher Sabat turning in an amazing performance as a secondary character, and Bryce Papenbrook being unsufferably awful as Eren. I'm also finding myself increasingly irritated by Josh Grelle as Armin. These guys are so much better than the performances they bring to this show. And I've already spotted one instance of an old dear with the voice of a 20 year old. Gnng!

[Tiplodocus]

In between fixing the tumble dryer, posting the last of the churstmas presents and sorting out our broadband cintract I have watched  DIE ANOTHER DAY and AVATAR.

Both better than I remember but still full of flaws.

AVATAR definitely benefits from being seen on a biggish screen in high def in glorious 3D as it's such an unashamed visual feast. The dialogue doesn't do much to explain why being a Navi is so wonderful but the script assumes the lushness of Pandora will just suck you in. Is it five years old? Special effects still look utterly flawless.

There aren't many things that would get worse when you add Rosamund Pike and Halle Berry but DIE ANOTHER DAY is one of them. It's not there fault as such. DAD is rattling along quite nicely as a serviceable "Bond goes rogue" movie until Halle arrives to utter terrible innuendo to Brosnan as he holds in his gut. Thereafter it becomes a massive sack of shit with zero surprises and a complete lack of wit. I have warmed slightly to the showdown on an exploding plane but still don't see why, when you build a villain as such a credible physical threat, you then emasculate him in a power rangers outfit.

[Spikes]

Finally making good headway through my reading, and watching pile.
Which has me now dusting off, and viewing The Omega Factor complete series set, from 1979.

Now, I have no real recollection of this series at all (I suspect it was on past my bedtime, then) but after reading about it in my copy of the Ten Years of Terror book, ive been meaning to track this down for some time.

It's typically intense stuff, and all played incredibly seriously, from the tail-end of the 70's, and comes across like a slightly flared trouser-ed  version of the X-Files, except minus all the alien stuff. Or looking at stuff that was contemporary to it at the time, then Sapphire and Steel-ish. Kinda...

Main lead, James Hazeldine is on fine form, and eminently watchable.
Big Finish are currently producing new audio drama's for this show, so it would seem to be having a bit of a revival.

A curious beast - and a half forgotten 70's curio, this, but recommended.

[Colin YNWA]

So only one episode of The Wire to go. So the question I ask you is do I watch it tonight after the kids are in bad, or save it and read my latest comics haul which I got from my LCS yesterday but only read a few of last evening as... well you guessed it... we watched The Wire...

... what to do what to do...

[I, Cosh]

Get it over with.

[Colin YNWA]

Well I did and...

hit and miss I guess is the only way to describe it.

[Tiplodocus]

Halfway through Season 2 of Breaking Bad. 

It continues to entertain but the tone veers wildly between episodes.  The grim "reality" of Jesse stuck with a poor child in a junkie's pad in PeekaBoo sort of sits with the black comedy of  Danny Trejo [spoiler] 's severed head on an exploding tortoise[/spoiler] but then in comes unashamed light relief in the shape of Saul Goodman.  I'm sure this initial impression is wrong but it's still good stuff.


THE OFFICE (USA) - OK, shoot me. I'll admit to liking this more than the UK version. We only have the finale to watch and it continues to make me laugh out loud (the most important compliment that matters for a comedy) and has fantastic performances throughout. Sure it's sacharrine at times but it usually does it shouting through a loud hailer.

[TordelBack]

It continues to entertain but the tone veers wildly between episodes.  The grim "reality" of Jesse stuck with a poor child in a junkie's pad in PeekaBoo sort of sits with the black comedy of  Danny Trejo [spoiler] 's severed head on an exploding tortoise[/spoiler] but then in comes unashamed light relief in the shape of Saul Goodman.  I'm sure this initial impression is wrong but it's still good stuff.

No, I think that's spot on.  The drastic changes in tone, and [NOT REALLY A SPOILER] [spoiler]the increasingly improbable twists[/spoiler], are what made it so enjoyable for me - had it played everything straight it would have been unbearable, as it is there is just enough fantasy and silliness added to the grim situations to make it obviously an entertainment (albeit a compelling one), rather than something to be endured.  I like some slapstick with my partially dissolved corpses.

[Colin YNWA]

Well there we go finally finished The Wire and have to say over all I loved it, brilliant stuff. Not sure if its quite up there with Breaking Bad and The Sopranos but damned close if not.

The end was a little disappointing, never has 1 and 1/2 hrs of telly dragged pasted so many possible endings and yet felt so rushed. It did its job, but in wrapping up so much seemed to compromise so much. Many of the individual character endings seemed a bit trite and simple and this was a case were I definitely think leaving somethings a little more open would have been a benefit. As it stands those little snap shots concluding the stories of everyone who survived the series, just too many. Some worked, some didn't and even if the ending for the character seemed appropriate and nice [spoiler](I'm happy for Bubble) [/spoiler] the actually shot was as cheesy as hell.

Aside from that the main story seemed to twist itself almost to breaking point to try top wrap things up. After a series that had felt so grounded this was such a shame and too much stuff was doubtful, or slightly out of character to enable them to get to the end of the story. I dread the idea of watching it again as under the closer scrutiny of a second viewing I don't think it will hold up. My wife plans to do just that tonight, I will steadfastly be ignoring the telly so my threadbare ability to accept the way it wrapped up remains intact!

I guess that's the price you pay for weaving such a rich tapestry.

Still when viewed as whole an absolute triumph of a series. There's a bit of me still thinks Season 2 was the best?

[Dandontdare]

I hear what you're saying, but they're damned if they do, damned if they don't - the makes of the Sopranos were pilloried for their ending because it just stopped without resolving any of the hanging plots. The writer said this was to emphasis that it wasn't a single story they were telling but a "soap opera" of life in a gangster family, and this life goes on after the series ends.

[Colin YNWA]

I hear what you're saying, but they're damned if they do, damned if they don't - the makes of the Sopranos were pilloried for their ending because it just stopped without resolving any of the hanging plots. The writer said this was to emphasis that it wasn't a single story they were telling but a "soap opera" of life in a gangster family, and this life goes on after the series ends.

Yeah but I loved the ending to The Sopranos - which might explain my views here!

[Dandontdare]

me too!

[Theblazeuk]

Twas alright. Nothing beats the ending of The Shield....

[radiator]

I hear what you're saying, but they're damned if they do, damned if they don't - the makes of the Sopranos were pilloried for their ending because it just stopped without resolving any of the hanging plots.

The fate of certain characters were left ambiguous, but I certainly felt it resolved everything to a satisfactory level.

[I, Cosh]

It continues to entertain but the tone veers wildly between episodes.  The grim "reality" of Jesse stuck with a poor child in a junkie's pad in PeekaBoo sort of sits with the black comedy of  Danny Trejo [spoiler] 's severed head on an exploding tortoise[/spoiler] but then in comes unashamed light relief in the shape of Saul Goodman.  I'm sure this initial impression is wrong but it's still good stuff.

No, I think that's spot on.  The drastic changes in tone, and [NOT REALLY A SPOILER] [spoiler]the increasingly improbable twists[/spoiler], are what made it so enjoyable for me - had it played everything straight it would have been unbearable, as it is there is just enough fantasy and silliness added to the grim situations to make it obviously an entertainment (albeit a compelling one), rather than something to be endured.  I like some slapstick with my partially dissolved corpses.

Conversely, this was one of the things I found really hard to stomach about the series. I'm all for black humour used to undercut the more serious side of something, but I found the abrupt switches to broad comedy and the seeming inability to mix the different tones very jarring.

Then there's the ludicrous MacGyver stuff which initially comes out of desperation and entertaining, innovative ways to get things done but which gets stupider and stupider as it progresses and, again, does nothing but ruin the dramatic aspect of the programme.