TechnicalBarbarity
Poser Disposer
Poor little Japanese dude who keeps having to cart away all the chopped up body parts
The Official Good Television Thread
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no country for old wainds
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i'm 3 eps in, killer adaptation so far. so much of it falls in line with my childhood memories. it's cool seeing a new generation getting exposed to this story which was such a formative influence on me. love how it's been cast too. might rewatch the OG after and see how it compares, i dimly remember that being awesome as well. if i recall rightly it only had subtitles for the japanese that blackthorne actually understood, which would make it a rather different experience particularly early on.
rms
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CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
no country for old wainds
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put this on rms' tombstone
rms
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Slayed Necros
Void
Just finished up Shogun ... couldn't find a gif of the "you leave me no choice ... please kill him" partbut this clip will do...
EDIT: guys dont watch the whole thing just the first 30 or so seconds...
...i like how he rolls up like a G and bows before proceeding to slice them up, lol fuckin bad ass
@RadicalThrasher @CiG @Slayed Necros @no country for old wainds
Finished Shogun the other night. Great series! This scene was so good man, some of the coolest melee/sword combat I've seen in a long time.
TechnicalBarbarity
Poser Disposer
For sure man, and the clip i posted doesnt even really do that scene justice because its edited. I also really like the scene where she tells off that one dude in front of everyone
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Saw the other day they're doing another 2 seasons.
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
I finished that Eric miniseries last night. Lots of great attention to detail and narrative twists and turns.
I've never been a big fan of Benedict Cumberbatch nor have I seen much of his stuff, but this felt like a career highlight from him.
Edit: Also despite expectations I'm actually kinda enjoying Star Wars: The Acolyte.
I've never been a big fan of Benedict Cumberbatch nor have I seen much of his stuff, but this felt like a career highlight from him.
Edit: Also despite expectations I'm actually kinda enjoying Star Wars: The Acolyte.
Last edited:
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
So far, Ser Criston Cole's subplot/character arc is the only interesting one in House of the Dragon s2.
no country for old wainds
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apparently s2 of severance is one of the most expensive seasons ever with a budget of over $20m per episode
Einherjar86
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I was a bit underwhelmed by Shogun on the level of dialogue and plotting. That said, it's still one of the best things I've seen on television lately. It's not that I was expecting more per se (I was, but I appreciate the show's commitment to making viewers wait for a full payoff until later seasons--glad it got renewed); but rather, I feel like certain conversations, which felt supremely substantive, ended up having no discernible purpose.
One example (apologies for length here):
All of this just felt like a haze of writing misfires and indiscernible lines/conversations. There were some moments earlier in the season that struck me similarly, but I can't recall the details as well.
All in all, an entertaining show, but I hope they sharpen the dialogue in future seasons.
One example (apologies for length here):
the conversation between Toranaga and Gin, teahouse madam, as he contemplates surrender, was dripping with significance. It seemed like she was insinuating support, i.e. that she and her concubines would somehow help him out of his conundrum. Then a following scene depicts his half-brother in the teahouse, and Kiku says she has other ways to pleasure him before stepping out, and it seems to make sense--the teahouse is aiding Toranaga in assassinating his brother. But no, that's not it at all, Toranaga's son is doing this of his own volition, and apparently the concubines aren't in on it at all...? Or I'm assuming they aren't, otherwise surely Nobutatsu would punish them afterward. So the conversation between Gin and Toranaga is less substantive than merely suggestive (of future plans maybe, of her founding a teahouse in what will become Tokyo), and Kiku's comment about other ways to give pleasure is totally pointless. Perhaps it's a ruse to get her out of the room, but I feel like Nagakado could have attacked while she was still there...? I assumed she was going to let the assassins in or something, or get some kind of tool she would use to assassinate Nobutatsu herself, but none of that happens.
All of this just felt like a haze of writing misfires and indiscernible lines/conversations. There were some moments earlier in the season that struck me similarly, but I can't recall the details as well.
All in all, an entertaining show, but I hope they sharpen the dialogue in future seasons.
no country for old wainds
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i think these issues are due to adapting a lengthy novel into a relatively short tv series. from my admittedly hazy recollections the gin stuff has more substance in the book, where she essentially invents the concept of a geisha in a similar way to how blackthorne revolutionises the warfare, and it's especially significant because the place where she's given the plot of land will one day be tokyo--i believe this loosely ties in with some other moments in the episode and series in terms of foreshadowing the development of modern japan (and toranaga's dreams of a new japan). it's meant to be deadwood-esque in other words, but hardly any showrunner is smart enough to do what deadwood did so it doesn't really land.
purely on a narrative rather than thematic level, i think the scene is basically just designed to show us that neither character believes toranaga is actually powerless/defeated despite appearances to the contrary. i'm also p sure gin does provide some secrets which help toranaga execute his overall plan in the book.
purely on a narrative rather than thematic level, i think the scene is basically just designed to show us that neither character believes toranaga is actually powerless/defeated despite appearances to the contrary. i'm also p sure gin does provide some secrets which help toranaga execute his overall plan in the book.
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
No the teahouse was definitely in on it but just not on behalf of Lord Toranaga but rather his son, which is why way earlier Lady Gin stops Kashigi Omi from entering it. But saying Saeki Nobutatsu would've punished them if they were in on it assumes he has our perspective of those events. Kiku had a lot of plausible deniability and (this is just my conjecture) Saeki Nobutatsu is condescending enough that he probably didn't think Yoshii Nagakado was capable of a murder scheme, and just assumed he acted impulsively (eg they didn't even sneak in, he heard them fighting before they got to his room).
I took Kiku's comment to be a smart way of getting out of the room while simultaneously keeping Saeki Nobutatsu distracted (sexually excited) and not suspicious. I don't remember if she was gone long enough before the assassins entered to say she let them in, but her leaving the room could've been a pre-planned signal for the assassins to move. Her facial expressions before she leaves were way too sus for it to be merely coincidence imho.
As to the conversation between Lord Toranaga and Lady Gin, I think the fact that Blackthorne was gifted time with Kiku by Lord Toranaga is an indication that the teahouse has value that foreshadows Japanese political negotiations, doing business in teahouses eventually becoming a staple, and Lady Gin was able to make Lord Toranaga see her as a cunning ally with the fact she detected Lord Toranaga's hidden plans, impressing him. He'd have her teahouses in his backpocket.
I took Kiku's comment to be a smart way of getting out of the room while simultaneously keeping Saeki Nobutatsu distracted (sexually excited) and not suspicious. I don't remember if she was gone long enough before the assassins entered to say she let them in, but her leaving the room could've been a pre-planned signal for the assassins to move. Her facial expressions before she leaves were way too sus for it to be merely coincidence imho.
As to the conversation between Lord Toranaga and Lady Gin, I think the fact that Blackthorne was gifted time with Kiku by Lord Toranaga is an indication that the teahouse has value that foreshadows Japanese political negotiations, doing business in teahouses eventually becoming a staple, and Lady Gin was able to make Lord Toranaga see her as a cunning ally with the fact she detected Lord Toranaga's hidden plans, impressing him. He'd have her teahouses in his backpocket.
Einherjar86
Active Member
Those are both really good posts with a lot of excellent points--thanks guys. I definitely may have been expecting too much considering what the narrative compression of an hour-long episode is able to include (as wainds suggests). And I think CIG is right that the conversation between Toranaga and Gin is suggestive more of long-game politics than an immediate scheme; I just felt that its inclusion in the episode and all the hushed conversations about Toranaga's intentions were setting up something about to happen in the episode. But that's my acculturated brain making assumptions based on the logic of the series format.
In other news, I watched the first few episodes of The Bear S3 last night, and man what a snooze fest.
In other news, I watched the first few episodes of The Bear S3 last night, and man what a snooze fest.
CiG
Approximately Infinite Universe
Season 3 of The Bear has been my favourite so far.
Especially episode 6 "Napkins" which might honestly be my favourite episode of the series in general. The cinematography and the soundtrack for that ep were so good and Soderbergh-esque, solidified Tina as my fav support character too.
Einherjar86
Active Member
lol I don't know, the opening montage episode did not grab me. And then the relentless "fuck yous" between Carmy and Richie, and the rest of the staff rolling their eyes and taking turns telling them to stop I found especially grating. I'm not sure why other than I felt the show was hammering way too hard on something its audience already knows. It felt too performative and left a bad taste in my mouth.
And then the following two eps just dragged, in my opinion. Maybe I'll feel different by the time E6 rolls around.
And then the following two eps just dragged, in my opinion. Maybe I'll feel different by the time E6 rolls around.
Blurry_Dreams
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Slammed
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@CiG
Don't know if you've seen the ads for this but Rob Collins has a new tv series coming to FTA in a few weeks.
www.imdb.com
Don't know if you've seen the ads for this but Rob Collins has a new tv series coming to FTA in a few weeks.
Human Error (TV Mini Series 2024– ) ⭐ 6.8 | Crime, Drama
Human Error: Created by Greg Haddrick, Samantha Winston. With Leeanna Walsman, Stephen Peacocke, Rahel Romahn, Matt Day. Detective Holly O'Rourke and her homicide team as a seemingly open-and-shut murder investigation threatens to destroy her career, her family, and her faith in justice.
www.imdb.com
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