T.V. shows you've been watching

Orange is the New Black Season 4. The upside of releasing it all at once is not having to wait to see it all. The downside is staying up way too late for three consecutive days to finish it and also knowing there's going to be a really long wait for season 5.
But this season was really, really good. Less Piper focused for the better.

 

Someone put all of Titus on YouTube. Man, I forgot how much I love that show/man.

 

OJ Doc, continued -

This is a really, really infuriating thing to watch. That completely rotten old lady who served as a juror and even today in an interview said things like "it was Nicole's fault for taking those ass-whuppins, I got no respect for no lady that takes them" and then voted not guilty? All the data on how the jurors hated Nicole for stealing a black man, and hated Marcia Clark for being "a bitch?" Jesus. The jurors were incredibly stupid, petty, racist people who had no place deciding the trial. As the documentary explains, the requirements of the trial basically ensured this - they had to be people with so little going on (ex no family, no job) that they could be sequestered for what they were told would be a several month trial. I don't know how they could have gotten around it, but no wonder he was acquitted with such rotten people deciding the outcome.

There's also an absolute ghoul of a "news reporter" that can't contain his gleeful giggling about how big the news story was, even today, and then tries to turn the interview into how he's now transexual and how much attention he deserves. He has a couple halfass asides about "oh we were all sad it was a murder" which then immediately get disregarded as he goes back into giggling. I assume this was the documentarians letting the guy hang himself with his own words, but wow, this person is utterly reprehensible.

And Mark Fuhrman, obviously! I'm glad they got all the material from him since he's such an important player in this trial, but wow. He writes off those tapes as "he was having a bad day" in about one sentence and doesn't seem to have any understanding whatsoever how responsible he was for letting a murderer get away. The fact he still has a career as a FOX news correspondent is like something a bad fiction writer would come up with.

Some of the people interviewed, such as the black cop talking about his viewing of the crime scene photographs and still getting incredibly emotional about it (as the doc starts cutting them in, increasingly graphically), on the other hand, are beyond reproach.

Goldman's parents are possibly the most tragic figures in this entire story. That was one thing that the miniseries did that was truly respectable, and here again they are heartbreaking, as are some members of the Brown family. The tape of him announcing Ito had idiotically made it into the Fuhrman trial instead of a trial about the man who'd murdered his son and Nicole by playing 2 hours of Fuhrman spewing racial epithets was dead on. Ito was kind of a piece of s**t. I am glad they interviewed some local civil rights people who weren't blinded by this for balance. The poor reasonable human juror they interviewed who said those tapes hurt her so much that she became unsure if Fuhrman really could have planted evidence or not shows just how much Ito messed up the trial and made everything ten times worse.

I was very surprised that they eventually ended up showing the most graphic crime scene photos possible, with a huge, unflinching close-up of Nicole's face with the neck wound that practically severed her head filling up the frame. There's a similar one of Ron. The fact some interviewees stubbornly insist he didn't do it and/or Nicole was a bitch and they'd understand if he had is unbelievable.

I'm going to have to watch the miniseries again after this just to feel better. That is also infuriating, but it's such an utter smear-job on Simpson himself, casting a short, high-voiced little guy and portraying him as a petty child, that there's some catharsis there.

 

Finished the first half of Vikings season 4. That was some good TV. Can't wait for part two this Fall.

Also looking forward to Mr. Robot season 2 this July!

 

Watched season five of Louie on Netflix. I'll be honest, I'm ....ing over the Louie and Pamela storyline.

The first season (aka the first fifteen episodes) of Roadkill got put up on Netflix. Watching the first episode on a larger screen really makes it apparent that they used whatever camera equipment was available at the time to shoot it.

 

Started watching Marco Polo a couple of weeks ago and I'm on the 2nd season's finale... there's a lot to be said about this show. Great setting, great stage and costume designs, interesting characters, the story is incredibly interesting, but f*ck me sideways does it waste a good chunk of its potential. It's a very entertaining show and has a very interesting premise, but I can't help but facepalm at least once or twice per episode at how badly they pull some stuff up. The writing, while not abysmal, could be a lot better, and it could also be made a bit less cheesy. I reiterate though, entertaining watch, and a whole lot of eye candy.

 

Stranger Things on Netflix is fantastic!! Halfway through in one night.

 

^ Yeah? I saw it on Netflix and caught my eye, but decided to go for that new BBC science fiction documentary they uploaded there. Seems to have good reviews so far. Might give it a shot soon.

 

Title please.

 

The Real History of Science Fiction.

Four episodes, and I've watched the first two so far. It has interviews with a whole bunch of actors and writers of the genre. It's fantastic. I just wish they'd cover more mediums than simply film and literature. I was hoping Ghost in the Shell would be mentioned anywhere, but nah. Still though, great documentary.

 

Finished Titus. Now, its Mr. Robot, Powers, and anything Anthony Bordain as of late.

 

Seen the first two episodes. It's really great so far! Kinda reminds me of Super Eight, but darker and better. I know this is a sort of remake of an older series, but at times the mood and plot of the show remind me of the videogame Life is Strange.

 

Started watching "Wrecked" on TBS, it's surprisingly good given. Only a few recognizable faces (the manager from Flight of the Conchords (Rhys Darby) is probably the biggest) and one of the guys from Whitest Kids U Know; but I think that helps the show. You're not really picturing them from any other roles they've done, so it's all fresh perspective. It pokes fun at a majority of the tropes that you'd see with isolation situations as well.

Also started Mr. Robot tonight, Rami looks more haggard than normal in it. Kind of tough to watch because that's his character, but man, if it keeps going like this it might be like Blade Runner where a core element of the thing prevents me from watching it.

 

It's awesome so far. That's exactly how I described it to a friend as well. It's like Super 8 without the Goonies influence essentially.

[EDIT]

And I just finished the series. I have to say I really like the way it ended. It left things open, but felt complete. It set itself up for a potential second season while not making you wait for answers like most shows do.

I watched the first couple of episodes and liked it, but his character makes it hard to enjoy. Characters that talk with zero inflection or emotion bug the hell out of me. I get that it's meant to be his character/flaw, but it bugged me enough I didn't end up binge watching it.

 

Started watching Stranger Things, I'm not sold on it. I really don't like the shaved head girl. I heard a bunch of hype that she was "best child actor ever" blahblahblah, but she mostly just stands around with a furrowed brow. I also am having a hard time telling apart the two bowl-cut kids (one of whom disappeared). It made the flashback scenes confusing. All white people look the same! The kids are extremely unlikable compared to the Spielberg characters they're routinely compared to. Even the kids in Super 8 were more likable. I know likability isn't the point, but when you can't stand most of the characters it's a hard watch. Only the toothless kid is amusing. The other one keeps shrieking WHAT'S WRONG WITH YOU!!!! in his little voice, and the other kid just constantly acts like a dick about how they have to go to the police. And they're apparently supposed to be the heroes!!

Winona Ryder is good but rapidly becomes annoying since practically every scene she has features tearful whimpering. Nancy (the "good girl") is interesting

Spoiler

in that she's set up as the good girl but rapidly turns out to be selfish and willing to lie to cover her own butt at the expense of everyone else. She does end up redeeming herself, and she's cute in that Kerri Green sort of way. Her apparently douchey boyfriend is interesting in that he's the opposite (bad to good)! The rather stereotypical "weird handsome kid with rough upbringing who turns out to have grit" is the character I probably like the most.

It rips off everything from Poltergeist to Under the Skin to Firestarter to The Goonies to Stand By Me to Dreamcatcher, but it does it in a way that I think manages to work better than Super 8 plotwise.

The soundtrack, when it happens (which isn't very often), is great. Very John Carpenter.

 

Just finished Stranger Things.

Save for a couple of scenes, I thought it was fantastic and very well done. It honestly felt more like watching a movie than watching a show. I personally loved the kids. Dustin (the chubbier one without the front teeth) was probably my favorite. He looks like a cross between Cartman and Ash Ketchum. (Or maybe I've just been playing too much Pokemon GO.) I thought Eleven's character was good, but her "I'm too traumatized to speak" thing got kind of annoying at some point. Still though, I loved her when she goes into full badass mode.

I actually REALLY liked the horror element of it, especially in the first few episodes. Great ending, too. Like flint said, I like that they don't answer everything, even if I'd LOVE to know the answers. It heightens the horror part of the show.

What I like is that for how relatively shallow the show actually is, it manages to convince you that it isn't. I didn't really find any deep messages that challenged my worldviews, or any existential crises that pose mind-boggling questions, but just really natural and unadulterated adrenaline with a big fear factor. The few comedic scenes sprinkled here and there were pretty cool too. T'was awesome.

Something I didn't like was (plot-specific spoiler follows)

Spoiler

how they treated Barbara's death. Almost as if it didn't really matter to any of the characters that she died. Like she was just a mere plot device. I mean, she was, but they could have masked it off a bit better and have given her death a little more impact on the rest of the character, or maybe even the plot.

EDIT: my favorite thing about each episode though, was this:

It makes me laugh hard every time for some reason.

 

Stranger Things response:

Spoiler

Yeah, I thought that was odd as well, especially since Nancy started off extremely concerned. She almost seemed unphased by it by the end of it all.

My least favorite aspect was the cliche sociopath bullies. I know it was a big trope that existed in 80's flicks, which many elements of this show pay homage to, but I hated it in those films as well. Threatening to cut someone open and pull all their teeth out if they don't commit suicide by jumping off a cliff is quite the extreme response to your usual victim finally getting even with you after months/years of bullying. The call to action makes sense for that subplot, but it was such an extreme reaction. It nicely tied Eleven back into the plot though so I mostly forgave it.

 

Stranger Things was pretty damn good. Watched it all in couple days.

Got tired of Winona's cry face, but considering the situation, it's realistic.

Like how it ended, and also that they didn't completely explain it all, leaving it kinda mysterious. Like Wankerness said, it rips from a bunch of different shows, but it does it well. Good stuff.

Penny Dreadful - After being on my cue for a long time, I finally started watching it and got all the way to about half way through Season 2. Wish I had started it sooner, as it's a lot cooler than I expected. Got started on Stranger things and got sucked into that, so I'm going back to Penny tomorrow.

Marco Polo - Having watched the first season twice already, I'm really looking forward to getting back into it. The time period is fantastic and I love Kublai.

 

Binged it before Stranger Things. I liked the second season better. And you're right, the time period, setting, and imagery all more than make up for all of its shortcomings. I find the Kublai/Chabi dynamic to be incredible, and I loooove both characters.

 

I know exactly what you mean. I genuinely love the series, despite being consistently disappointed that the writing doesn't quite live up to the potential granted by the rest of the production.

The scope is huge, the acting is great, the characters are great, and the cinematography is quite beautiful. Please understand, I'm not at all saying the dialogue is bad. It's actually good. It just feels a little funny because it's good on a show where every other element of the production is great.

I admittedly didn't know much about the history, but I keep being pleasantly surprised to learn that most of the characters were actual people -- even my favorite, Hundred Eyes.