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I just watched and enjoyed the first 3 episodes of American Horror Story. Gosh - they're certainly putting the "horror" in it this season though aren't they? Other than the odd moment, I didn't find last season that scary or disturbing at all. It was mainly all just camp fun to me. But this season is really quite horrific and gory. And so many tropes of horror are being thrown at us too - asylums, mad scientists, torture, exorcisms, the Devil, serial killers, monsters, aliens... I wonder if they're going to leave themselves anything new to cover in season 3? Maybe a Jaws-type water-based horror?
The trick with this show though is not to take it too seriously and just go along for the ride. I'm doing that and really enjoying it.
From: Australia | Registered: Dec 2003
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My wife and I just went through ALL of "ARCHER" on Netflix and holy hot shit that's a funny-ass show!!! GENIUS!!!! A friend described it as "Arrested Development" meets "Burn Notice" and (aside from the fact that there are several cast members of "AD" involved) that is a pretty good description.
For those who haven't heard anything about it, it's basically a spy-show satire, but the best one that's ever existed since "Get Smart."
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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Oh, I've also been watching "Last Resort" ... it's a tense drama week in, week out where it always seems like the world is at stake, but they manage to keep it up each and every week, despite how utterly preposterous the premise might seem.
And if any of y'all have been waiting for Andre Baugher to command the screen the way he did in "Homicide", this is the place!
From: New York, NY | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
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I was enjoying "Last Resort", but haven't been able to get myself into the mood to watch the last couple of episodes.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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The one episode we tried to watch of Archer started with the same juvenile "adult" jokes in other of the lesser adult swim stuff and my wife turned it off (it was the one where his mother gets caught covering herself in whipped cream in front of a video screen). Maybe it was just a bad one to start with?
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Blacula: I just watched and enjoyed the first 3 episodes of American Horror Story. Gosh - they're certainly putting the "horror" in it this season though aren't they? Other than the odd moment, I didn't find last season that scary or disturbing at all. It was mainly all just camp fun to me. But this season is really quite horrific and gory. And so many tropes of horror are being thrown at us too - asylums, mad scientists, torture, exorcisms, the Devil, serial killers, monsters, aliens...
THIS. AHS:A is absolutely horrific this season!! What happened to Shelly last episode was HORRIFYING!
The alien angle is what is cunfuzzling me the most. Everything else ties up so well together, I am not sure how they are going to fit the alien angle in... or if the alien angle is really even needed (personally I don't think it is, but I am keeping an open mind about it).
The Sister Mary possession has me on the edge of my seat!
SEASON ONE SPOILER STATEMENT FOLLOWS HERE!!!
. . . . I do hope they avoid another "nobody gets out alive" ending, even though Season 1's bizarre and feel-good twist on that ending was genius.
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We are currently catching up on the Newsroom, and I must say it is EXCELLENT. Wow, Sorkin really got back into form after the West Wing sort of petered out there. I think a 10 episode season may really be a great format for him to stay on task and not dilute the progress.
From: Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada | Registered: Sep 2004
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I saw one episode of the Newsroom, it was excellent, I have heard that some episodes are really good and some are too contrived/preachy.
I am muddling through Season 7 of the West Wing, apparently Sorkin left after season 4. You can really tell .... the show is all over the place. with all these weird new characters ... the different camps running for president ... its not the same type of show, much less the same quality.
and what the frack happened to Sam?
From: Ninja Land | Registered: Nov 2004
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I've started watching episodes of Spider-Man, aka Spider-Man 1981, aka the old Spider-Man cartoon that has no amazing friends, on YouTube. I haven't seen these since about 1987 or 1988. I saw one of the six Spidey vs. Dr. Doom episodes, which wasn't very good. But then I saw "Under the Wizard's Spell," written by my heroine Christy Marx and guest starring Medusa, and that was very good indeed.
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I saw a visually stunning film in the theater over the weekend - Ang Lee's "Life of Pi".
It's basically a parable about the nature of belief and god but - taken on a strictly literal level - it's also movie about a young boy lost at sea for 8 months, sharing a life boat for various amounts of time - until nature takes its course - with a zebra, an orangutan, a hyena, and a freaking Bengal tiger!
It was an incredibly engaging movie, if a little pat in it's overall message, but it truly had some of the most amazing CGI I think I've ever seen. The animals in the movie were so realistically rendered that I had to keep reminding myself that they were just digital creations.
A warning though, if you happen to see a preview and think its a heartwarming tale or something, this movie has some pretty brutal scenes and is probably not the best for younger kids.
-------------------- See Here for the latest update on the 2013 Chicago Gathering (now including tentative attendance list)
Registered: Feb 2008
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Kim Possible Later to the party. Since my earliest Internet days, I couldn't have avoided exposure to its fandom if I tried. It's exactly what I expected. Glorious ridiculousness. Some plots do get tired fast, and the "calling an old friend for a ride" thing is never amusing. After growing used to anime, several things struck me about Western animation, though Kim Possible may be a pretty extreme example. Super-simplified backgrounds. Hectic pacing. Fluid movement. The anime martial arts I've seen look choppy in comparison, though I'm not sure that's a bad thing. One of KP's outstanding moments: the zero-G fight. The animators don't use this as an excuse to up the wire-fu quotient. Her moves look talented yet awkward in this environment. The "robot fighting underground" which looks like Robot Wars when the overall weirdness level leads you to expect Super Robot Wars. And then a boxy wheeled machine transforms into a humanoid mech. Comb fights. "I added another L." Lanyards. "I gave him a few pamphlets." Jack Hench. "The student has surpassed the master." I'll say it: This show was the 2000s' answer to The Tick. I find it weird if this ends up on a list of "girls' action cartoons". She's an Action Girl, but it feels like one of those shows aimed at boys and everyone else.
ANIME:
Heartcatch Precure Probably back in 2010, with inadequate information, I decided to be a Pretty Cure completist. I got the impression the metaseries was better than it was. I notice now that I decided this when apparent fan-favorite Heartcatch was the newest series. Anyway, I skipped Fresh to get to it, and this'll probably be my last. (One review I saw of Suite killed any chances of my watching it. That show has the attitude of a really annoying art teacher I had.) I really don't like the Doremi style. I can't understand reviews that say this has better animation but weaker characterization than the early series. The backgrounds look cheaper than anything I've seen since Doki Doki School Hours. Aside from that, this is a pretty good show. It does break some conventions, but not enough or often enough. (It does at least answer a standing question I had: if you interrupt an attack sequence, does what you've done carry over to your next use? Answer: Yes.)
Michiko and Hatchin I heard this described as a buddy series with an odd relationship. What I heard about it wasn't accurate - in a good way. The team of a sexy escaped convict and the abused 10-year-old girl she saves doesn't feel contrived. Interesting rendering of the Brazilian setting, but it would be better if it could escape the lingering anime conventions.
Space Brothers (Uchuu Kyoudai) The first time I've ever started an anime while it's still airing. A decent slice-of-life-ish show, but the starting situation (older brother makes a career change and goes back to the shared childhood dream the younger brother already followed: becoming an astronaut) doesn't feel real enough.
TOKUSATSU:
Samurai Sentai Shinkenger I've dipped into Japanese live-action, even tokusatsu, before, but this is my first entry into the best-known metaseries. My reason for choosing this one? The monsters looked better, though part of that is context. They're mythical creatures, not aliens or the weird golems I've grown too used to. Anyway, it's about what I expected. It does start off really quickly, though. I guess they know the audience is used to this by now.
-------------------- Tom Strong, on nostalgia: "I suppose it's a ready substitute for genuine feeling." - Tom Strong #6, Alan Moore
From: Calgary, Alberta | Registered: May 2008
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